CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT

APRIL 29, 2023

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFIES SIX IN THE TOP-10 AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

• Chevrolet will start two in the top-five, six in the top-10, in Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
• 2022’s event winner Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren INDYCAR and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin represented Chevrolet in the Firestone Fast Six.
• All Team Penske and Arrow McLaren INDYCAR Chevrolets transferred from their respective qualifying groups to Segment 2 of the session, along with Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 QUALIFYING RESULT:

POS. DRIVER

3rd     Pato O’Ward

4th     Scott McLaughlin

7th     Josef Newgarden

8th     Felix Rosenqvist

9th     Rinus VeeKay

10th   Alexander Rossi      

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“We qualified seventh, which is pretty good. Not where the car should be. I think it’s a pole-winning car quite frankly, so I was certainly disappointed that we weren’t able to realize all of the potential but this crew has been phenomenal this weekend. I think the PPG car is going to be really fast in the race. We’re going to make good use of it, to try and move forward pretty quick, hopefully, and hopefully get another win on the board. That’s our goal.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“Overall, pretty good day for the Good Ranchers Chevy. P4 we start tomorrow. I think we’ve got a pretty good car but just didn’t quite have enough for pole. A bit of me, a bit of the car. We’ll find a bit of speed overnight, and hopefully will come out stronger tomorrow. It’s going to be an interesting strategy. Strategy-wise, it’s going to be different with a three-stop, two-stop and who does what.”

Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“Not bad. I mean, I was determined to get into the top 12. Still just struggling with a little bit of straight-line speed. Still got to decide what we do with the engine. Obviously, everyone’s at the end of their miles. Some people change, some don’t, so there’s a bit of a discrepancy. You’ve got to think about what might hurt you down the road here. I think we can have a good race from there. It’s not a bad spot. Obviously, I’d like to be up further, but we’ll see what we can do. Hopefully, it’s a bit of a mixed-up strategy race, and we can play the right cards.”

Conor Daly, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“We’re certainly not starting as far back as we were at Long Beach which is helpful! We started racing our way forward in Long Beach so we are looking to do the same here. I do think we have a chance to move forward as was a bit of confusion from one set of tires to another in our qualifying session. We lost a bit of the balance of the car on our second set. Just a shame, it’s very, very tight; very very close. I am happy that Rinus (VeeKay) was able to get a decent qualifying run. Obviously, we need a good race tomorrow. Hopefully, we can work some magic and move forward.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“I am proud of the guys! We have been struggling this weekend, so making it into the Top 10 almost feels like a pole position. This morning I was 20th while pushing hard, but we made a big jump forward. We have a fast car now. Really, our race pace has been good all three races this season, we’ve just had a bunch of bad luck and not had the results. We also haven’t been able to put it together in qualifying, but this time we did! The team worked really hard and it paid off.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“We did some really good changes. I’m just really happy with what we did from practice 2 to qualifying. I mean, we missed it by less than a tenth, so we’re there. We’ve definitely found the lap time we wanted to. From practice to now working on the race car, it’s a different beast with the (tire degradation) and all that. You’ll see guys taking risks on the three-stopper, which ultimately is the quickest. But you can get hosed really easily by a yellow. The last couple of years, it’s been the fuel-save two-stopper, so I expect the Ganassis to be very quick. Obviously, Grosjean, it’s his second pole of the year, so I know he will be right on pace. I think for us, to have a good start, a good clean start. I don’t know what we’re going to do strategy-wise. Obviously, you want to go with the one that will win, so we’re just going to have to see what warmup says in terms of tire degradation from black to red and just play it from there.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“I think there was more potential than that. Looking at Q1, we were pretty strong and Q2, I don’t know, it’s just so sensitive with tire warm-up and I just didn’t really feel like I had it in me or the car. Like, it wasn’t going to come. I did a decent lap but it wasn’t enough. Obviously, I’ve been close in the Fast Six three times in a row, so a bit bummed about that. But, honestly, where we started yesterday, I’m pretty happy to be P8. It’s a good spot, that gives us the fuel-save. Tomorrow, it could be to our advantage. We’re normally pretty good at that. Let’s see, you never know. Not too bad. My team, Arrow McLaren, always does a good job. Unfortunately, we have those weekends sometimes when you roll out, you don’t feel like you’re in it, and I think we did a really good turnaround from yesterday. We’re there. It’s super tight. Really good job from them, and we’ll see where we can end up tomorrow.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“It’s really disappointing. I mean, we thought we had a pretty easy top-six car and made a change there. You’re always so close, you kind of have to adjust to the track and evolution. Just made the wrong change. I think the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevy has been good all weekend. We started our very happy, we’ve been happy all weekend, we just made the wrong decision there. We know what to do for the race. It’s a constantly evolving championship and it’s so tight. You’re looking for hundredths, and so you’re always trying to optimize, and sometimes you take the step in the wrong direction.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Yeah, a lot of positive changes today for free practice two, then we had an issue with the clutch so we didn’t get to run our second set of new tires. So we made some blind changes going into qualifying to where we had a sensor fail. So, now we have a lot of tires. So should make for a fun race tomorrow.” 

Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Qualifying all wrapped up here at Barber. We’re just trying to figure out what is going to work the best for the race tomorrow. And I feel like we made a slight step in qualifying but we still have a pretty big step to make for the race tomorrow, but just staying focused and trying to figure out exactly what the car needs to go faster and I feel like we’re in a pretty good situation with tires for tomorrow. So hopefully we can try to gain a couple of positions if not more, being very smart with strategy and figuring out a way to move forward tomorrow.” 

Callum Ilott, No. 77 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:

“We start P15 overall. Could be better, could be worse. I felt the car was quite good. We’ve improved a lot. Just missed in one or two areas with it. The field is so tight, that that made the difference. But overall, I’m happy with the progress we’ve been making. Obviously, some others have made a little more progress from yesterday, but we’re heading in the right direction. I think, you know, this is a better track for us. Especially in the race, I think we’ll be all right. Looking forward to tomorrow. A few things to work on overnight. Should be a good one.”

Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:

“Really happy with the progression, especially from practice to qualifying. We start P22 tomorrow, and we will try to do our race and finish the race we want to.”

Late heroics by Catsburg, team effort secure runner-up finish heading to Le Mans

FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (April 29, 2023) – It wasn’t a victory, but Corvette Racing earned the next best thing Saturday with a rallying drive to a runner-up class finish at the Six Hours of Spa in the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone finished second in GTE Am with their No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – a remarkable result given some of the hardships working against the Corvette Racing team. The team came back from 12th place early in the race along with the addition of 45 kilograms of success ballast for this race to keep its perfect run of podiums intact through the first three races – and more importantly keep its early-season momentum headed into the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For the second race in a row, Catsburg took a starring role late. After a stellar defense two weeks ago to win at Portimão, Catsburg held off the faster car of Charlie Eastwood for second place. The result means that – against all odds – the Corvette team increased its GTE Am championship lead unofficially from 31 points to 39: 82 points compared to the No. 83 Ferrari team with 43.

Keating started fourth in class, but the big story even before the race began was the weather. With the track damp and mist falling, the Corvette team elected to start the race on wet-weather tires. Numerous cars on slick tires went off-track and race officials elected to begin the race behind the safety car. The additional formation lap allowed the dry-tire cars a chance to get their tires up to temperature, putting the Corvette and other cars that began on rain tires at a distinct disadvantage once the race went green and the track began to try. Keating made a pit stop for dry tires at the 30-minute mark to fall down the order, and the Corvette team caught another bad break when the pits closed for another safety-car period as Keating was set to come in again for fuel, tires and a driver change. Instead he had to stop for five seconds of emergency fuel near the one-hour, 45-minute mark and came in a lap later for the scheduled service. Varrone took over for a double-stint from seventh place and steadily worked his way up into the top-five through a full-course yellow and the race’s third safety-car period. The initial stint on his tires was difficult to manage as the team chose to try a harder compound in his run, but changing to a softer tire put him back on the pace of the leaders heading into the final two hours. That set the stage for Catsburg’s double-stint to the end. A fourth safety-car period brought the Corvette back to the lead pack, and he managed to find himself in first before the final stop with 54 minutes remaining. A fierce duel over the final 40 minutes began with Catsburg getting around Eastwood on the latter’s out-lap and racing out to a nearly eight-second advantage. It didn’t take long for the lighter and quicker Aston Martin to find its way back to Catsburg’s rear bumper. The final 14 minutes saw the two cars run nose-to-tail with Catsburg keeping the Corvette ahead despite traffic from the overtaking prototypes. He crossed the line with a 0.249-second gap to third place. Corvette Racing’s next event in the FIA WEC is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10-11. It is an event that Corvette Racing has won eight times.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: “Somehow we managed to find ourselves in the top-five or top-six before I jumped in the car. The Corvette Racing guys did great work again in the pitlane. We were in the mix with the front-runners, and I was able to pass some on the out-lap. I knew we didn’t have the pace to challenge for the lead, and I was never expecting to keep P2. But it worked out. It was déjà vu back to Portimão! I was struggling a lot to keep the Aston Martin behind. Charlie did a great job. He didn’t make any crazy moves and it was super-nice racing. An awesome feeling of two races in a row getting a good result. Great job to Ben doing the start in insanely difficult conditions. Nico… what people don’t know is that Nico had to drive on the worst tire compound we had available because we used him as a guinea pig to test! So it was very difficult for him, and hats off to him for keeping the car on the track and keeping it in contention. I’m super happy with the work they are doing and the team is doing. It’s super nice to have these big points.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: “This is another team win. Even though we came home second, with 45 extra kilograms this feels like it’s better than a win. I came into Sebring with the idea that maybe we could win. I came into Portimao with the idea that a podium would be a success. I came into this race thinking a top-five would be good. I never dreamed we would be second. It’s an unbelievable finish, especially given how we started. “Normally in these races, you don’t get the opportunity to make up lost time. We had three different times where we got a pass-around around the safety car. We were a lap down a couple of times because I made the choice to go out on rain tires at the start because I thought it was the conservative, safe choice. It turned out to be the wrong choice and had to come in for an early stop. Because of that, we were off-sequence with everyone and kept going a lap down. The safety cars came out exactly when we needed them to and we were able to get our laps back. It was a crazy race. It’s hard to think that it was even crazier than Portimao! I’m just glad I have a good heart! This has been unbelievable to watch. The whole team was fantastic. Nico did a great job. I don’t know how Nicky stayed in front of the Aston Martin because they were so fast all weekend. It’s just an incredible job by Nicky two weekends in a row. I’m ready to go to Le Mans!”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: “This was a really hard race. From the beginning, we weren’t looking to be on the podium. A top-five would have been mega. But again the Corvette Racing team did a great job. We were lucky with the pass-arounds to get us back in the fight for the win. Nicky had great pace and did a great job defending again as in Portimão. Today was just fantastic. I can’t really believe it yet! It was a bit crazy. Big thanks to Ben and Nicky for the great job and to Corvette Racing for amazing pit stops and the engineers on the strategy. Everything was perfect.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY

WURTH 400

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT

APRIL 29, 2023

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 STARTING LINEUP:  

POS.   DRIVER

1st      KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1

8th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

9th      RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER/ICY HOT PRO CAMARO ZL1 

10th    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

11th    ERIK JONES, NO. 43 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1 

14th    ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1

15th    DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 PITBULL/FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1

16th    TY DILLON, NO. 77 NATIONS GUARD CAMARO ZL1

18th    KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  

POS.  DRIVER

1.        Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)

2.        Christopher Bell (Toyota)

3.        Ryan Blaney (Ford)

4.        Brad Keselowski (Ford)

5.        Chris Buescher (Ford)

The NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Dover Motor Speedway was canceled due to weather. With the starting lineup set by the NASCAR rule book, Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1 team will lead the field to the green from the pole position.  

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 – Polesitter Quotes

A LOT OF TALK ABOUT TIRE ISSUES. IN PRACTICE, JOEY LOGANO HAD A RIGHT-FRONT THAT CORDED. DID YOU HAVE ANY TIRE ISSUES DURING PRACTICE? 

“We didn’t really run long enough to see any tire issues for us. I think we saw the No. 48 (Josh Berry) had a little bit. I think they had a 14-lap run or something, so they saw a little bit of that. As the tires were wearing, they weren’t really laying the rubber down into the race track as what we used to see here. They were kind of foaming up, if you will. Like you pick it up and it was like dust, like foam. That’s not too out of normal here at Dover, but definitely not seeing any rubber on the race track is not positive.” 

DOES TOMORROW BECOME A TIRE MANAGEMENT GAME, OR DO YOU HOPE THAT AFTER 100 LAPS THAT THINGS GET RUBBERED UP? 

“Yeah, I mean you would like to hope that after today it gets rubbered up. The Xfinity race getting out there and hopefully being able to lay some rubber down, but who knows with the weather tomorrow. If it rains and washes all that off, you start over with the Cup race. So if we’re going to be on a green track, it’s going to be a bit rough to start. Probably need a competition caution. Don’t ask me what lap number to put it on because I don’t want to be the one that’s on the hook for what lap, over or under, that the tires will blow. But yeah, you’re definitely going to need a competition caution or two.”

HOW WAS YOUR CAR DURING PRACTICE? IT SOUNDED LIKE THERE WERE SOME HANDLING ISSUES THAT YOU WERE BATTLING.

“Yeah, I mean the car drove fine. The ride quality of the car, the platform of the car – everything on that front was fine. It was just the balance was super, super tight. We were kind of throwing a little bit of things at it. We weren’t going too heavy on it just to kind of sneak up on it. We saw Austin (Dillon) crash in practice and so we were a little tentative on what our adjustments were and how fast we would go to free it up. But seeing what we saw for the rest of practice and how our balance is right now, we’ve got a lot of work to do on the No. 8 Lenovo Camaro to get it where we want it for the race and what it’s going to take to keep the right-front tire on it for a long run.”

April 29, 2023

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang are set to start 31st in Sunday’s Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. After rain washed out qualifying on Saturday, the line-up was set by a qualifying formula based on recent performances. 

In practice on Saturday, Burton was 22nd on the speed chart with a best lap at 155.494 miles per hour, which he set on the fourth of the 15 laps he ran in the session. 

Sunday’s 400-mile race on the one-mile Dover oval is scheduled to start just after 1 PM Eastern Time. (The green flag has been moved up one hour due to the weather forecast.)

TV coverage will be provided by FOX Sports 1. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 120 and 250.

 

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY

WURTH 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

APRIL 29, 2023

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript: 

HAVE YOU TALKED TO ALEX? ALSO, WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF RACING SOMETHING ELSE BESIDES A CUP CAR THAT WOULD MAKE THE ARGUMENT THAT WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO RACE OUTSIDE OF HERE? 

“I have talked to Alex. Look, I know he’s bummed. But I think it could have been a lot worse, right. For me, number one, I’m thankful he’s in a position where he’s going to be able to get back to the team and be able to contribute 100 percent as he was before. So to me, his health is really first and foremost. I know he’s bummed and he’s probably not feeling good, but I’m looking forward to having him back. 

As for what you get out of it, I think that depends on who you are. I think that depends on your outlook on what you enjoy doing and what makes you happy. Alex enjoys racing sprint cars. He likes building his cars – drift cars, midgets and going and racing that stuff. That’s a passion of his, so I think for that reason, it’s meaningful to him and I think that probably changes per who the individual is and what your outlook on things are. I think for him, he seems to really enjoy all aspects of that stuff. It’s a bit of his getaway and I think that’s important.”

HOW MUCH CONCERN IS THERE ON YOUR END ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE NO. 5 CAR LAST WEEKEND AND THE WAY THE PASSENGER SIDE COLLAPSED AND THE DOOR BARS COMING IN? 

“Yeah, I mean it’s not great, right. At the end of the day, you look at that thing – I haven’t seen it in person. We tested at Loudon this week, so I wasn’t at the shop on Monday. From what I’ve heard and the pictures I’ve seen, certainly it’s a bit concerning on a multitude of levels. I’m disappointed in that, personally. Last year, the softer hits were a problem, but that’s in preparation for a bigger hit being covered. From the data I heard, he was only doing 130 mph, so what happens if he’s doing 180 or 160 mph? So yeah, I definitely think that’s concerning. But I also think it’s probably more of a conversation on how to move forward outside of this room. We’ll get it better to where we can be productive on it and not just sit here and run my mouth.” 

JEFF ANDREWS WAS JUST IN HERE AND HE SAID ONE ACCIDENT IS BAD. TWO EXTRACURRICULAR ACCIDENTS IS NOT GREAT. HE SAID MAYBE THERE’S A CHANCE IN THE FUTURE THAT HE MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU GUYS DO. HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU THAT THERE COULD BE A CHANGE IN WHAT YOU GUYS ARE ALLOWED TO DO AND HOW MIGHT IT EFFECT YOU IF THEY HAVE TO GO FORWARD WITH THOSE TYPES OF CHANGES? 

“I really don’t see it changing. I think it’s obviously very, very poor timing with where I was at and just coming back and obviously Alex being hurt this week. I mean look, I get it. It’s a bad look. I totally understand that. But also, I understand that there is a timing piece of that and it’s just really poor timing. I think if one happened this year and the other happened next year, would we be having the same conversation? Probably not, you know really. I think them being back-to-back makes it look a little worse than the reality.” 

YOU COME IN AS THE DEFENDING WINNER AT DOVER. HOW MUCH DO YOU USE FROM LAST YEAR THAT YOU CAN MOVE FORWARD TO THIS YEAR? 

“Yeah, I’m with you.. I don’t know what aero package it is and isn’t anymore. Certainly I’m sure the car is going to drive different because at this point last year, there was still a lot of learning going on. Not that there’s not still a lot of learning going on now, but I do think that people have really progressed a lot through the second half of the season. So I anticipate that it’s going to feel different. The car might have some different tendencies. It’s still going to have those characteristics that come along with being at this race track and racing here, so I don’t anticipate that changing a ton. But we’ll see. It’s been a year since we’ve been here and obviously a lot can happen in that amount of time. We’ll get on track and kind of see where we stack up and go from there.”

HOW IS YOUR LEG DOING? ALSO, YOU MENTIONED THE TIRE TEST UP AT LOUDON. DOES DOING THOSE LAPS AND GETTING THOSE EXTRA REPS KIND OF HELP BUILD BACK THAT STRENGTH? 

“Yeah, I feel fine. I’m not going on runs or doing sprinting drills, but I feel fine. I don’t feel like it impacts me in the car at this point. Really, I didn’t think it impacted me in the car at Martinsville either and I’m certainly better than I was then. It’s just one of those things where you’re going to have good days, you’re going to have days that you don’t get around great. That’s just going to be part of it here for a little while I think. I think those extra reps are good. We made a lot of laps and I felt fine there both days and the day after, yesterday, being out of the car. 

Yeah, I feel good. Just ready to keep pushing forward.”

WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOUR PACKAGE IS AT, NOT ONLY HERE THIS WEEKEND, BUT GOING FORWARD, CONFIDENCE-WISE? 

“Well for me personally, I’m just kind of getting back, really and truly. Obviously Hendrick Motorsports as a company has had a lot of success. When I was gone, I felt like they ran really well at Las Vegas. They ran really good at Phoenix. I thought they were OK at COTA. Atlanta is obviously a bit of a wash. But Richmond, they were obviously very strong there, as well. As a whole, I feel like the Chevrolet camp and Hendrick Motorsports have been strong. For me, we ran Martinsville and then went to Talladega. We were OK at Martinsville – we certainly weren’t anything special. We were really bad there for the majority of the day, but we qualified bad. We qualified bad and put ourselves in a tough spot. You’re going to start see that narrative more – I think when you qualify bad, it’s probably going to set you up for a long day. I think we’re in a good place. I just have to get back in the rhythm of doing this stuff and getting going.”

YOU MENTIONED IT’S STILL DOVER AND IT STILL HAS THOSE TENDENCIES. YOU HAVE TWO WINS HERE. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT KIND OF SUITS YOUR DRIVING STYLE? 

“Yeah, I don’t really know to be honest with you. We ran pretty well here I feel like on the Xfinity side, too. We’ve had some really solid runs on the Cup front; last year probably being one of our better runs, maybe our best run. But yeah, it’s been fortunate that this place has been a solid track for us over the last few years. I hope that continues. We’ll see. I’ve enjoyed coming up here. I wish that meant we were going to guarantee me a good run tomorrow, but unfortunately that’s not how it goes.”

WITH JOSH BERRY FILLING IN FOR YOU FOR A HANDFUL OF RACES, HOW DO YOU FEEL HE DID WITH THE TEAM? 

“I thought he did great with the team. Not only did I think that from the outside, but once I got back, everybody enjoyed working with him. I think you have to have that dynamic. He’s a guy that doesn’t say a whole lot, but I kind of like that. He doesn’t talk a ton, but he’s certainly putting in the effort and putting in the work; thinking about things, dissecting what he feels and what he needs to do next. I think he’s going to continue to build on that. Obviously he’s going to get a few more weeks here now to run and I think that’s just going to make him better, better and better. I think he’ll continue to run well; keep building on like his result at Richmond. I think he’s going to keep building on those things because he’s a guy that he’s learning a lot in a short period of time and I think he’s going to apply that very quickly.”

DO YOU LOOK AT DOVER AS ONE OF YOUR BETTER OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON TO MORE SAFELY SECURE YOUR PLAYOFF POSITION? 

“Yeah, it’s certainly an opportunity. When we show up properly, I think any given week can be a good opportunity for us, frankly. But certainly as I reference a second ago, this has been a good track for us. Does that guarantee that tomorrow is going to go good? No, but I certainly hope so. But look, these races, a lot can happen and a lot can happen out of your control. You have to put it all together on the race track, on the pit box, on pit road – everything has to be perfect. That’s a lot to put together and I think it’s a bit unfair to throw that all on one day and bet the house on it. That’ just unrealistic. But I think we can go and have a good run here just like we can go and have a good run next week or the next 15 after that, if we show up and do our part.”

BEING OUT OF THE CAR THIS SEASON, YOU SAW JOSH BERRY GET THAT GREAT RESULT AT RICHMOND. NOW THAT ALEX IS IN THAT POSITION, SEEING SOMEONE ELSE HAVE SUCH A GOOD RUN IN YOUR CAR, WHAT WERE THE EMOTIONS OF THAT DAY? 

“At that point, I was past the weird space of seeing my car – it’s not really my car, it’s really Rick’s (Hendrick) car – but seeing the NAPA No. 9 car go around the track, I was kind of past that weird space of it and was really just excited to see them do good. They deserve it, in my opinion. I’ve been telling you all in here a long time – that team is really, really good. They make me look a lot better than I really am. I was hoping that maybe you all would start to believe me on that over the period of me being out because it’s very true.”

DO YOU TAKE MORE RISK? OBVIOUSLY WITH A MEDICAL WAIVER, TOP-30 IN POINTS, THAT’S GOING TO BE A GIVEN. SO DO YOU TAKE RISK TO WIN AS IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A WIN IN YOUR POCKET, OR DO YOU KEEP CHOPPING AWAY AT THE POINTS AND MAYBE GET TO THE 16TH SPOT? 

“I haven’t been keeping up with it closely. That’s pretty farfetched, I would say, even if we run really well. Not impossible, but we’d have to have a summer stretch like we did last year to do that, which was a really good stretch for us. Really, our mindset is no different this week than it was last week. I feel like we have to win. If you’re putting yourself in position to win races, I think it’s probably going to work itself out. On the other side of that coin, if you’re not putting yourself in position to win races at least once or twice in the next 16 weeks, then I’d say you’re not going to win a championship anyways. So does it really matter at the end of the day, right? It matters, obviously. But like when you step back and look at it – if you’re not in contention at least a couple of times, I’d say you thinking you have a shot to go win Phoenix is probably a little unrealistic.” 

WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT THE PHYSICALITY OF THIS RACE TRACK AND HOW IT KIND OF JUST MOVES YOU AROUND IN THE SEAT AND HOW YOU’RE PRETTY WORN OUT AFTER A RACE HERE. HOW MUCH OF THAT PHYSICALITY IS ON YOUR LOWER EXTREMITIES, SPECIFICALLY YOUR LEG? 

“I don’t think it will be a whole lot. Fortunately, my knee and just kind of where it sits in the car is in a really secure position. And even before the injury, the way I kind of had all my stuff setup like where my knee is, doesn’t move laterally or it’s designed to not move laterally, at least in a normal circumstance. Obviously crashing could be something different. So that being said, no – I don’t foresee it being any more difficult than say a Martinsville or Loudon test where you’re using the brakes and kind of pushing your car from that perspective. I could be wrong, but I don’t anticipate that.”

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R places fifth; sister car retires early following incidentFRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (April 29, 2023) — Reliability again proved to be key for the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R as the entire team learns the ins and out of Hypercar class racing in its maiden FIA World Endurance Championship season.Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook combined to drive to a commendable fifth place in the 13-car Hypercar field in the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Through three rounds, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R has placed a consistent fourth, fourth and fifth. Taking the green flag under a lingering mist on the 7.004km (4.35-mile), 20-turn road course, Bamber moved up one position from his qualifying spot on the first lap and remained in the top four throughout his stint. Bamber gave way to Lynn just after the halfway point of the race and the No. 2 Cadillac continued to turn consistent lap times as it stalked the leader. Westbrook climbed in the car during a safety car period and brought the car home over the final 1 hour, 27 minutes of more changeable weather conditions. The pole-sitting No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry won the race. A strong start for the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R came to an abrupt end with 4 hours, 30 minutes left when the racecar driven by Renger van der Zande came off the right-hand curbing hard through the high-speed Eau Rouge corner, spun and slid up the track into the barrier. Van der Zande was checked at the infield medical facility and cleared.“It was an up and down weekend for the 3 car,” said Mike O’Gara, No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R strategist and director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing which runs the car. “We came here with a brand-new car, then had some issues that the mechanics worked on all night long. Obviously, it was a very competitive car and our strategy worked well. Renger was doing a great job and (engineer) Danielle (Shepherd) made a great selection on tires. We were just putting in laps, cruising and then unfortunately had a bit of an issue at the most critical, highest-loaded part of the track that ended our day.” Three other Hypercars retired from the race. The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, which was making its WEC debut as a warm-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, qualified a solid fifth in the Hypercar field with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel. Van der Zande was running second when the incident occurred. Both drivers will next drive the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in the 2-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race May 12-14 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterrey, California. Cadillac Racing is preparing for three Hypercar entries in the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10-11. The Nos. 2 and 3 Cadillac V-Series.Rs will be joined by the No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R co-driven by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken. Cadillac last competed in the iconic endurance race in 2002. Aitken, who competes in the IMSA endurance races in the Action Express Racing-prepared car, was brought in as the third driver of the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R at Spa to gain additional experience behind the wheel of the Hypercar. He drove an LMP2 car in his Le Mans debut in 2022.

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.REarl Bamber: “We decided as a team what to do and we split the cars and we took wets. If it stayed green, it definitely was the right call but the safety car, so we got put back more than a minute. We recovered well, had great pace and the car was really good for me and my teammates.” Alex Lynn: “It was a typical Spa day. I’m proud of the team. We had a really fast car. Again, a lot to learn but we made it to the finish for the third race in a row. Coming into Le Mans in the top five in the driver points then perfect. The car is reliable, we’re gaining speed all the time and we’re just getting better and better.” Richard Westbrook: “Tough day but a lot learned again. Really difficult conditions with choosing the right tires. Mixed conditions and as we all know it’s difficult on out-laps on cold tires, so we did well to stay out of trouble in that respect because we saw a lot of Hypercars go off in those situations. It’s nice to get a strong finish again. A lot learned and a lot we can take forward.”   No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.RRenger van der Zande: “It’s a tribute to the team how we were running P2 there with the right tire choice. The laps time were really good, we were cruising into the race and making sure we were taking care of the car and everything. But something went wrong in Eau Rouge and that was the end of our day. We’re still investigating to figure out what happened, but I am super lucky to be in a safe Cadillac because that was almost out of a movie scene. Jumping out of that car is a miracle and I’m quite proud that Cadillac builds such strong cars. We’ll bounce back and continue our develop as a team.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY

WURTH 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

APRIL 29, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript

WHAT DO YOU GET IN RUNNING OTHER RACING SERIES?

“The difference is between real life situations and simulators is entirely different.  The G Forces, the acceleration, the adrenaline of it and all that sort of stuff. So, for me, I have raced Super Late Models before and Micros now more recently with the dirt game and with Brexton in doing what he does. So, it’s just the enjoyable nature of being a race car driver and going out and running in various series and race cars and such. I just enjoy it overall.  Does running a Micro give you anything toward running a Cup car? No, not really.  But it does give you a sense of competition and getting out there and stacking yourself up against top talent.”

HOW MUCH CONCERN DO YOU HAVE OF WHAT THE 5 CAR LOOKED LIKE AFTER THAT WRECK LAST WEEK WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE DOOR BARS CAVED IN?

“Yeah, I am no scientist, but you see the concern with the severity of the damage on the right side of the 5. And you can only wonder, what if it was the left side? Right? So that is a huge issue, but the bigger matter is what created the damage, you know?  And that is the other car didn’t sustain much damage. So, looking at the 41 and seeing some of the stuff on that car, it was a brick getting rammed into a stick of butter. You know? It’s just going to smash it if it’s built too stiff.”

BIG WIN FOR YOUR SPONSOR MCLAREN GRILLS LAST WEEK, WITH THEIR WEBSITE CRASHING. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?

“That’s the KFB factor.  No, that is what we are all hopeful for, right?  You want to drive attention to the sponsors, and have the sponsors get that notoriety and getting people to check out their products and buy their products. Stuff like that.  I can’t tell you the last time that I grilled on a charcoal grill, but I did on Saturday night at Talladega with my McLaren Custom Grill with the number eight on it, my signature on the lid, and all that stuff. So, we had some great steak and some hamburgers and stuff like that.  So, it was a lot of fun to do that and to have them be a part of our weekend, our winning weekend in Talladega. It’s been 15 years since I was lucky, and you have to have those every once in a while. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get the luck that we needed in Daytona, but it was nice to have it last week.”

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ENERGY AROUND THE FACILITY WITH THE WAY YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HIT THE GROUND RIGHT AWAY?

“Yeah, I think moral is high. I think everybody from the Xfinity shop and the Cup shop has done a tremendous job. I think early in the season, Richard (Childress) was in victory lane four weeks in a row or something it seemed.  Five weeks maybe. But it was nice to finally get a Cup Series speedway win for me and to have that be a part of RCR and their legacy and history at Talladega – was really cool.  I know all the guys are pumped up, and the guys at the shop are excited. That’s two wins on the year so far and we are hoping for more obviously.”    

WHAT IS THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN YOU AND AUSTIN (DILLON) AS FAR AS TEMMATES?

“We have obviously been in our team meetings every week and we continue to talk about our stuff and how we can get better. What things can we look for and try to do.  I think a lot of that is going to come into play this weekend and next weekend so I am optimistic and hopeful that we will have some really strong runs at Dover and Kansas. I thought Austin did an awesome job with what we had at Martinsville, running 12th there, that was good.  I think he was actually better than me at the Bristol dirt race, had a better long run car than I did. I could go on the short run, but not the long run. He got the finish he deserved, and I didn’t do a good enough job to get the finish that we needed out of that one. So, obviously we all have our ups and downs, and I would say that we have struggled at times for sure, you know, Martinsville being the worst.  But that doesn’t mean that we don’t go to work and try and figure it out and make it better for both of us.”

REGARDING HOW YOU LOOK AT THE SAFETY OF THE CARS YOU AND YOUR SON GET INTO

“Yeah, you know, safety first, right? That is always my biggest thing is to make sure my seats are right, and they are mounted right and are in the position that I want them in.  The seats that we buy for Brexton are safe and secure and good seats. Depending on what vehicle we are in, we will go to the lengths of lightening the seats and go to a point of where we feel comfortable. But like his Junior Sprints stuff, we don’t touch that, and leave that alone as is from the manufacturer. Safety is all our concern, all of our priority, and there have been so many advancements over the years.  You are never going to trump natural occurrences, right?  It’s just going to happen. I haven’t seen the (Alex) Bowman crash, but grateful that he will be okay. I remember Chase (Elliott) at the Chili Bowl, last year or the year before, he had a violent flip as well. So, he was okay after that. It’s just the nature of running those cars a lot of times.  I stick to the Micro game, they are a little bit slower and shorter track. You hope that you end up okay, but there are injuries in that as well too.”

WAS THERE SOME LEVEL OF EXCITEMENT AFTER THE TALLADEGA WIN AFTER YOU GUYS WERE ABLE TO GET IT DONE THERE?

“Yeah, I mean, I think anytime you get a win that is obviously exciting.  That is obviously what we all strive to do each and every week.  I have been good a lot, and have won a lot of races, not at restrictor plate tracks.  I have not had a lot of restrictor plate wins and lucky enough to get those wins. There are guys that are better at that style of racing than maybe me. But I still think it comes down to certain circumstances at the end, and where you are, and how it all works, and how it all happens. That is just the nature of that beast of restrictor plate racing. So, thankful to win, but isn’t a defining factor for our season.”

PRETTY FUNNY POST THIS WEEK BETWEEN YOU AND SAMANTHA.  CAN YOU GIVE SOME KIND OF CONTEXT AS TO WHAT YOU WERE UP TO?

“Yeah, you must be talking about Celebrity Game Face.  We were on that show with Kevin Hart and his wife and a couple of others, his buddies. So, we were just all playing games and stuff like that. So, just kind of unique, kind of fun.  Just thanks to the network for allowing us to be on there and being part of that.  That was really cool to have some face time with him. So yeah, check out our social….it was on E, so you got to go watch.”

CHASE PURDY HAS AS MANY TOP TENS THIS YEAR AS HE DID THE LAST TWO YEARS COMBINED WITH HIS OTHER TEAMS.  HOW HAVE YOU SEEN HIM DEVELOP OVER THE FIRST THIRD OF THE YEAR?

“Yeah, I have been excited about that.  With Chase, and Jack (Wood) and (Nick) Sanchez, they all had a shot to win Atlanta.  They were all running up front in the top three, top four. It was really cool, and I was hoping we were going to get into victory lane, but unfortunately circumstances just didn’t work out there at the end on that last lap.  Purdy has done a good job. He went to Vegas and was smooth and consistent and ran in the top 10.  Texas was a little more of a struggle where he ran 10^th to 12^th, but finished 10^th. Where Sanchez was dominating that race, leading that race.  So, there are still some things we can work on to help those guys be better and get better.  Top 10s are great, but being up front and contending for wins is what it’s all about and where he wants to be. I know he has been working hard at that. Him and Jimmy Villeneuve, they have built a good working relationship thus far. It’s exciting to see that as well as all the drivers and crew chiefs at our place. It’s going real well.”    

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY

WURTH 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

APRIL 29, 2023

JEFF ANDREWS, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS; BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1; JOSH BERRY, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript: 

JEFF ANDREWS: “Obviously you know by now, Alex (Bowman) had an accident in his sprint car this week. INAUDIBLE… He has a fractured vertebrae and the timeline he’s been given is somewhere in the three to four week window before he’ll be ready return. That’s really all we know right now. Talked to him yesterday. He’s home and resting. Some pain – it comes and goes for him. But overall, he’s in good spirits and we look forward to getting him back as soon as he’s ready.”

JEFF, OBVIOUSLY THE SECOND TIME YOU’VE HAD A DRIVER INJURED THIS SEASON. I KNOW YOU SAID AT LAS VEGAS THAT DRIVERS NEED TO LIVE THEIR LIVES. BUT IS THE MOMENT WHERE THE TEAM NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEPER LOOK AT WHAT DRIVERS CAN AND CAN’T DO? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “I think from that aspect, we always discuss with them and have conversations. There’s a process that we have in place when they do want to run racing events outside of the Cup Series. That’s still in place, that was in place. For this race, we were very aware of Alex’s schedule through the season for this sprint car. We look at Chase and Alex’s situation as two different situations. This is the first extracurricular racing accident that we’ve had that’s taken one of our drivers out here for three weeks. Chase’s situation was a snowboarding kind of recreational accident. 

We’re always looking at it. I think our message is – you know, be careful. It’s difficult because that’s something Alex has a passion for. Something that he’s worked very hard to be better at and we feel like it helped him over here in the Cup Series this year. He’s obviously having the best year of his career in the Cup Series. This is a temporary setback and we look for him to come back strong. We’re always evaluating. We’re always knowledgeable in the conversations with our drivers about what they’re doing and where they’re racing outside of the Cup Series. Obviously it’s a topic of conversation for us. We’ve had discussions with our guys about it since Alex’s accident. We’ll continue to have those talks and as a group, we’ll make the best decisions.”

JOSH, IT’S YOUR SECOND OPPORTUNITY TO STEP-UP TO THE BIG LEAGUES. HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY COMING INTO DOVER THIS WEEKEND?

JOSH BERRY: “Obviously, I hate the circumstances once again. Alex has been a friend to me. Like I said, it’s a difficult situation to step in again. I hate that for Alex. He’s been a friend to me over the last couple of years. You never want to see anyone injured like that. The reality of it is I feel a little bit more comfortable than where we were sitting in at Las Vegas; having a relationship with everyone at HMS and working through a handful of races with the No. 9. I’m ready to go today. We have a great opportunity in the Xfinity race today I feel like with the No. 8 car being the defending winners. We’re going to stay in the present; race these two races this weekend and see how it goes.”

THE NO. 48 CAR IS GOOD AT DOVER. JOSH, YOU’RE GOOD HERE IN XFINITY RACING. REALISTICALLY, WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT? AND BLAKE, PUTTING A DIFFERENT DRIVER IN THE CAR, CAN YOU CARRYOVER THE THINGS THAT ARE SO GOOD ABOUT THE NO. 48 AT DOVER? 

BLAKE HARRIS: “Yeah, I think all of those things this weekend. This company has a great history of success here in the No. 48 car alone. Josh, we got him in the simulator Wednesday as soon as we knew something – I mean within two hours, I think, of him knowing he was able to hop in for us. Statistically, he’s probably the best guy here. He’s only had a handful of races, but I don’t know that he’s finished worse than second here. Certainly the easiest fit to plug in. He’s got a handful of Cup races and we’re going to take the approach this week to let him get comfortable and get up to speed. Fortunately we’re going to get practice and qualifying in today, so less nervous from the standpoint of having to throw him straight in the race. 

Yeah, I think with his success and the history of the No. 48 and HMS all together, I think all of those things are the best situation we could be in with what we’ve got.”

JOSH, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS PARTICALLY RACE TRACK AND THE COMFORT YOU FEEL HERE IN THE NO. 48 CAR? 

JOSH BERRY: “I can’t really decipher exactly why Dover has fit me pretty well. I remember how nervous I was coming here in 2021 for the first time in the Xfinity Series with no practice or anything. It’s been a good track for me. Obviously Hendrick Motorsports has been super strong this year and they build great cars each and every week. For me, it’s just going to be about getting comfortable. Kind of like Blake said, just taking it one step at a time. We get practice and qualifying, which will be different. I think I only practiced twice in the No. 9 out of the five races, so that will be nice to kind of get that under our belt and hopefully that will accelerate the process of kind of adapting to the Next Gen at Dover. I’m confident in Blake. He’s a racer like myself. Those guys have been off to a great start to the year, so I’m sure we can have a solid day tomorrow; limit our mistakes and see where we end up.” 

JEFF, NO SECRET IN THE GARAGE THAT THERE ARE CUP TEAMS TALKING TO JOSH FOR NEXT YEAR AND SOME OF THEM AREN’T CHEVROLET TEAMS. WAS THERE ANY THOUGHT OF NOT USING JOSH BECAUSE HE MIGHT BE GOING TO ANOTHER MANUFACTURER NEXT YEAR? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “I don’t have any knowledge or anything on that. But there was never a question in our mind of who the right person to put in the No. 48 car was while Alex is out.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO ANYTHING YOU GUYS HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE NO. 5 CAR FROM THEIR ACCIDENT LAST WEEK? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FEEL LIKE NASCAR CAN DO SHORT TERM OR WHAT YOU’RE DOING SHORT TERM FROM WHAT YOU SAW IN THE NO. 5 CAR AFTER THE ACCIDENT LAST WEEK? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “Yeah, so what I can tell you is that a group of us were there very early on Monday morning. That group included Kyle – he wanted to see the car and sit in the car. We went through kind of an initial evaluation of talking with NASCAR; discussing it and looking at it through the day and the days that followed that. The car went through somewhat of a disassembly process so more of it could be evaluated and looked at. Obviously you can see in the pictures there was quite a bit of damage to the door car area, specifically on the right-hand side, that’s moved significantly to the left in the vehicle. From this point, it’s just going to be the industry I think working together to really understand and figure out what we need to do to prevent things like that from happening. There certainly are things – there needs to be some short term discussions and some long term discussions, as well. NASCAR is very involved, very concerned. Had us over there multiple times and I’m sure there will be a lot more discussions in the coming weeks and months on what we do to prevent that going forward.”

DID YOU DO ANY CHANGES FOR THIS WEEK? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “There are no changes.”

JOSH, HOW DO YOU LOOK BACK AT THE LAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS OF YOUR CAREER? YOU’RE A GUY FROM SHORT-TRACK RACING AND CERTAIN THINGS HAPPENED THERE THAT DIDN’T GO SO WELL. A TRAVEL AGENT WOULD NOT BOOK THIS KIND OF A TRIP, SO HOW DO YOU LOOK AT YOUR CAREER THE LAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS WHEN HERE YOU ARE RUNNING A CUP CAR? 

JOSH BERRY: “I remember it being a lot better than you did, I feel like (laughs). I mean I would do that journey all over again if I had the opportunity. It was just a lot of fun racing short-tracks all over North Carolina and Virginia. 

Yeah, just been very fortunate to have some great opportunities over the last couple of years and, in a way, make the most of those opportunities that’s got me here today. For me, just really thankful for everybody that’s had a part in getting me here. Looking forward to this weekend and seeing what we can do in these two races.”

DO YOU TAKE PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER WHEN YOU GET THOSE OPPORTUNITIES? 

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, I think so. You obviously look at the opportunity in the No. 8 a couple of years ago – it’s really what made my career. Winning at Martinsville and running well at places like here and Darlington is kind of what set me up for a full-time year I think. Ultimately, still have one full season in NASCAR in the top three series, so I still have a lot to learn and work through, but I feel like I’m proving myself that I can do this. I’m just ready for this weekend and we’re going to keep pushing forward after that.”

JOSH, YOU MADE YOUR CUP SERIES DEBUT AT DOVER A COUPLE YEARS AGO. WHAT’S MADE DOVER SPECIAL TO YOU OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS? 

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, like I said earlier, Dover has been a good track for me for whatever reason. I don’t really know why. I think it’s a combination of JR Motorsports being really strong here and Hendrick Motorsports will be really strong here this weekend. I think having great cars makes it a lot easier. But yeah, I don’t know – I just seem to fit the place and it seems to fit my style. Making my Cup debut here a couple years ago – I know it wasn’t the dreamy ending that everybody wanted, but it was a great opportunity. Same deal – last second, thrown in the car kind of deal. 

Dover is always going to be special. I got a Monster sitting in my living room that I look at every day, so that’s always going to be pretty cool no matter what.”

BLAKE, WHAT DOES ALEX’S ABSENCE MEAN TO THIS NO. 48 TEAM RIGHT NOW? OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS HAVE HAD A REALLY GREAT START, LEADING THE SERIES IN AVERAGE FINISHES. WITH HIM NOT BEING BEHIND THE WHEEL FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS AT LEAST, WHAT IMPACT DOES THAT HAVE ON THIS NO. 48 TEAM? 

BLAKE HARRIS: “I think this year so far, we’ve done a god job of just reacting with whatever has been thrown at us. This will just be another thing that we look back on and we’ll react accordingly. We’ve got full support of Alex. We want him to get well. As soon as he’s healthy and ready to come back, we’ll plug him back in and keep digging. From the standpoint of all those things and the momentum that we’ve had, I don’t look at that as being any different than what we’ve had. We show up every week with the plan to win races. We’re going to have to win races to get in the Playoffs. If we were leading points, we’re planning on winning races. So when he gets back, we’ll have to win races and we’ll get ourselves in a good position to make a run at the title. I don’t see that we look at it as anything different than just another bump in the road here that we’ve got to get across. We’ll go do the best that we can here for Josh, the No. 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports the next few weeks, and when he’s back and ready, we’ll be ready too.”

THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST TIME IN THE CUP CAR THIS YEAR, BUT IT WILL BE YOUR FIRST TIME WITH THE NO. 48 TEAM. OBVIOUSLY THERE WILL BE SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NO. 9 AND THE NO. 48. DO YOU FEEL LIKE ALL THE EXTRA RACES WILL COME HANDY OR IS IT GOING TO BE THAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE ALL OVER AGAIN WITH ADJUSTING TO A NEW TEAM? 

JOSH BERRY: “No, I definitely feel like I’m in a lot better place going into this – having some experience in the Next Gen and having a relationship with everybody at Hendrick Motorsports from the opportunity with the No. 9. 

The way I look at it is – ultimately, this is Alex’s race team and my job in this situation is to just try and keep these guys going, prepared, happy and just ready to rock n’ roll whenever Alex gets back. I think that was the mentality we took with the No. 9 and obviously they came back and hit the ground running. That to me, I think that shows a little bit of me in that moment of keeping the morale and everything up high. Obviously these guys are off to a great start of the season and they are going to be championship contenders throughout the year. My job is not come in here and win every race. My job is to adapt and do the best I can and just keep everything pulling in the right direction. I feel like we were able to do that with the No. 9. Had some good results along the way and hopefully we can do that again in the No. 48.”

JOSH, KNOWING WHAT YOU DID IN THE NO. 9 CAR, HOW DO YOUR OWN PERSONAL GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS CHANGE NOW THAT YOU HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY WITH THIS ORGANIZATION? 

JOSH BERRY: “I think it’s hard to have too high of expectations when you step in this, right. Cup racing is hard. These guys are great; they’re the best of the best in the world racing here at these tracks. I don’t think it’s really fair for me to come in and have really high expectations. I think my expectations are of myself, which is to give the best effort I can each and every week to be prepared to drive the race car and do the best job I can in the race car to limit my mistakes and be there at the end of the race. It reminds me a lot of my opportunity in 2021 with no practice and qualifying. We kind of wouldn’t even worry about the first stage, really. We would just adapt to the car and try to use the second-half of the race to use strategy or whatever we could to get upfront and get the result that we wanted. I think it’s a similar aspect – learning this new car and a new team. These guys are great. That’s what I learned the first time around. These guys are amazing to work with and they’re super, super smart, so I think we can hold our own.”

JOSH, FROM THE FIRST TIME YOU RAN DOUBLE DUTY FROM WHEN YOU FILLED IN FOR CHASE TO NOW, HOW HAS YOUR WEEKLY PROCESS CHANGED IN TERMS OF WHERE YOU FOCUS YOUR TIME, YOUR EFFORT, YOUR MIND, TO ENSURE YOU DO YOUR BEST FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND JR MOTORSPORTS ISN’T EFFECTED IN THAT PROCESS? 

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, you know obviously in the first go around a couple years back, it was COVID-related and kind of last second, so it was really little to no preparation. I remember back on these opportunities; I would say I was notified maybe a day before we left. No time to really prepare for much. Working through the last month – yeah, I mean it’s been a lot to manage. Obviously my primary focus is running for the Xfinity Series championship with my No. 8 team, but I tried to be present as much as I could with everything at Hendrick Motorsports and not leave anything on the table that I felt like I could have done to be better prepared and I think we did that. Really, you can only do so much in a week. It was definitely a challenge trying to manage all of that, but it’s been really important to me to be present with those guys, but also stay really present and involved with the No. 8 team and make sure those guys don’t feel like we’re leaving anything on the table there either.”

JEFF, HOW MUCH DOES THE FACT THAT THERE’S ONLY 20 MINUTES OF PRACTICE WEIGH INTO THE FACT OF LETTING DRIVERS DO OTHER THINGS – THE FACT THAT THEY’RE NOT ON THE TRACK AS MUCH AS THEY USED TO BE IN THE PAST, AND WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE THEY GET BY RACING EITHER SPRINT CARS, DIRT LATE MODELS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, THAT THEY CAN’T GET EITHER IN A SIMULATOR OR DOING SOMETHING ELSE? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “I think, first of all, the relationship between the race track and a simulator – I’ve never sat in one, but I think any of our guys will tell you that it’s completely different. I mean the simulator is close, specific to this series and the cars they’re driving and the racing in general. Some of our guys just enjoy that involvement – that hand-eye coordination and those continued reps, whether it be in the off-season or through the regular season. They’ll tell you it’s something that helps them. From our perspective, I think we have to evaluate; we have to look at it and we have to understand what the right balance is. We certainly don’t want to tell them ‘no’ to something we feel like would help them here on Sunday. As a company, we’ll just continue to look at it, continue to talk to our guys and make sure we’re making the right decisions together. Make sure they’re in the right race cars, good race cars, safe race cars. From there, as I said before, our primary focus right now is on Alex. We miss him here this weekend. We want him to get well and get back here soon. We’re very fortunate to have someone like Josh – someone of his caliber – to be here to fill-in.”

CLARIFICATION ON SOMETHING YOU SAID EARLIER – WHEN YOU TALKED TO THE DRIVERS, WAS THERE A CONVERSATION THAT CLARIFIED HOW YOU ALL FEEL? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “Whenever our drivers come forward with schedules for extracurricular racing and things that they’re going to do – whether it be the Chili Bowl in the off-season, William has been running a late model and of course Kyle with his sprint car series – those schedules are reviewed. The message from Mr. Hendrick is that – I don’t want to stop those things, but be careful. Understand what the most important thing is and the most important thing for Hendrick Motorsports is the results here on Sunday. So we’ll always keep that at the top of the list. Again, we may take a look at this. If this happens again, we’ll have to. But for right now, there’s not going to be any chances to our policy, other than just be aware. The most important thing is to results on Sunday in the Cup Series.” 

WHEN THE SCHEDULE IS REVIEWED, DO YOU EVER SAY – WE WISH YOU WOULDN’T DO THAT ONE.. IT’S AT THAT TRACK AND IT’S TOO DANGEROUS? DO YOU EVER SAY ‘NO’ OR MAINLY YOU’RE ALLOWED TO DO THIS? 

JEFF ANDREWS: “It goes through a review process if there’s something added – if we don’t have a knowledge of the track’s safety or things like that. It’s more we want to make sure the sponsors are OK with it. In Alex’s case, we want to make sure Blake and the team is OK with it; it fits the weekly schedule and it doesn’t interfere with something that’s going to effect the results here on Sunday.”

Gravel becomes 12th to earn 80 World of Outlaws victoriesGRANITE CITY, IL (April 28, 2023) – After an early season stretch of dominance that saw him claim three of the first five World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car races, David Gravel’s results had slipped in recent weeks.The sub-par finishes were never a matter of performance. A slight mistake at U.S. 36 Raceway led to a DNF. Contact with a competitor in Pevely turned a potential win into a ninth. Through it all, the Big Game Motorsports #2 continued to be one of the fastest cars on track.On Friday night, Gravel and his team put a full night together to collect their Series-leading fourth triumph of the season after a mid-race pass for the lead as the World of Outlaws returned to Tri-City Speedway for the first time in 15 years. With the victory, Gravel upped his career total with The Greatest Show on Dirt to 80 – becoming only the 12th to reach that mark. The Illinois oval became the 42nd different track he’s visited Victory Lane at with the World of Outlaws.In the bigger picture, Gravel also moved up to second in points – only 12 behind leader Carson Macedo. Perhaps most importantly, celebrating in Victory Lane helped Gravel forget about the recent troubles and bring to mind what he and the Big Game team are capable of when everything operates smoothly as they pursue a title.“We’ve been up front all year,” Gravel said. “I screwed up at U.S. 36, and then we had stuff happen at Volusia and Pevely, but this car has been fast all year… We’ve been in the Dash so many of the nights. Even if we’re not in the Dash, we battle to the front… It’s been a fun year. We’ve had three nights to throw away already, but if we keep running like we are, it’ll take care of itself.”While Gravel emerged as the winner, it was Logan Schuchart who controlled the early portion of the race. The driver of the Shark Racing #1S won the night’s Toyota Racing Dash to earn the pole of the NOS Energy Drink Feature. When the green flag flew, it was Schuchart who paced the field with Sheldon Haudenschild in tow.The runner-up spot was gifted to Gravel on lap eight when Haudenschild tapped the Turn 1 wall on corner entry and couldn’t get his car pulled away. The contact sent the NOS Energy Drink #17 upside down. Despite sustaining heavy damage, the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing crew, with the help of others, was able to make repairs and send Haudenschild back out.A quick red flag on the ensuing restart caused the next attempt to be single file and set up what wound up being the race’s longest green flag run.Schuchart charged ahead when the green flag came about, but Gravel stayed not too far behind. As Schuchart stuck with the low line around the entire three-eighths mile, Gravel began to search. Eventually, the Watertown, CT native found speed on the cushion in Turns 1 and 2 and quickly ran down Schuchart.A few laps prior to halfway, Gravel powered down the backstretch with a massive run and looked to Schuchart’s inside entering Turn 3 but didn’t have the room to make it stick. A few quick circuits later and Gravel refused to be denied. With the same type of run down the back straightaway, Gravel roared alongside the Shark Racing machine and held his ground. Schuchart slipped up in the set of corners, and Gravel hit the moisture on the exit perfectly to secure the top spot.“Yeah I just didn’t want to blow it and get inside him (Schuchart) and show him I was running the top and getting big runs on him,” Gravel explained. “Luckily, it all worked out. I was able to get by him down the backstretch He kind of really wasn’t running the bottom, kind of running low then slipping up where I was kind of getting that moisture line. That line was getting thinner and thinner as the race went on. It got tricky, so I had to get my wing back.“I was really ginger going into (Turn) one. I didn’t want to do what Sheldon did. It’s so easy to do that. There’s a shadow there. The curb is against the wall, so I was kind of conservative on entrance, but I tried to have a lot of corner speed through the center and exit and it worked out.”Once he grabbed the lead, Gravel began to stretch the advantage in traffic – slicing through lappers while those behind them struggled to get through.As the laps waned, fifth-starting Parker Price-Miller began to run down the top two while running the top all around the racetrack. With less than five laps remaining, “The Law Firm” threw a slider on Schuchart to take over the second spot.Even with PPM’s late speed, there was no time to catch Gravel as the 30 year old cruised to the checkered flag with more than a two second advantage for his fourth win in 14 races. The only thing that could’ve made the celebration sweeter is if he’d reached the 80 win mark prior to four time and defending champion – Brad Sweet, who earned his 80th last month.“Me and Brad Sweet kind of have the same stats. We were both at 79, and I wanted to beat him to 80, but he’s a lot older than me, so I’ve got more time,” Gravel said with a smile.Holding on for a popular second place effort was Kokomo, IN’s Parker Price-Miller. It was his first World of Outlaws podium of the year and the eighth of his career. The crowd greeted him with nearly a winner’s applause for his efforts when he emerged from the car.“Really happy to have a good run. We kind of struggled in the beginning,” Price-Miller said. “I didn’t want to see that last caution. We were kind of tight, but that’s how it fell. Maybe we needed one more yellow, but David looked really good and it’s hard to pass guys. Happy with a second, but it’s also like we were so close to getting another win. We’ll take it.”Rounding out the podium was the night’s pole sitter and leader of the first 15 laps, Logan Schuchart. It marked the Hanover, PA native’s second straight top three as he continues to build momentum. Schuchart’s average finish in the last four races is a strong 4.25 as he looks to continuing climbing toward the points lead.“You always like to win. That’s the goal, but it’s nice to get a podium,” Schuchart said. “The more the race went on the more I felt like we were struggling, just kind of hanging on and playing defense a little bit. I knew Parker was back there, so I tried to get the wing pulled back… We just missed it a little bit there in the Feature. I didn’t expect it to slick off that much.”UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN tomorrow (April 29). For tickets, call (812) 768-6025.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action on DIRTVision.RESULTS:A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[3]; 2. 9P-Parker Price Miller[5]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 6. 11-Michael Kofoid[18]; 7. 71-Cory Eliason[8]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[10]; 9. 83-James McFadden[13]; 10. 21H-Brady Bacon[15]; 11. 24-Rico Abreu[11]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[20]; 13. 39M-Anthony Macri[12]; 14. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[17]; 15. 8-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 16. 51B-Joe B Miller[23]; 17. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[25]; 19. 7S-Robbie Price[9]; 20. 21-Brian Brown[19]; 21. 5-Spencer Bayston[21]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[16]; 23. 5T-Ryan Timms[22]; 24. 9R-Chase Randall[14]; 25. 23B-Brian Bell[24]

CONCORD, N.C. (April 28, 2023) – Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster team were consistent Friday at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway to finish the night in the provisional No. 2 spot. Robert Hight has the Flav-R-Pac / Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevy Camaro SS in the No. 3 spot while Brittany Force has the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster sitting No. 7 and John Force’s BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy Camaro SS is No. 10. Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT team were consistent through qualifying during day one of the Four-Wide Nationals. Prock would open things up with a clean pass in the first session going 3.801 seconds at 324.05 mph. It would be there second run at 3.707 and 328.70 that would put them in the No. 2 spot and earn them two bonus qualifying points. “It was a great healthy day for the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team today. My team was confident, and they showed up,” Prock said. “We needed a day like today, two solid runs, sitting in the top half, and it’s going to set us up for a strong weekend. Feels good to have my hotrod back.” Robert Hight handled the Flav-R-Pac / Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS to the only 330 mph run in Funny Car’s first qualifying session. Off the trailer Hight would run an impressive 3.932-second pass at 330.31 mph to lead the first session and follow it up with a 3.894 pass at 330.23 mph to be third quickest of the second session and end up in the No. 3 spot. Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac dragster shut off almost immediately in her first qualifying try to coast to a 9.775-second pass at 71.12 mph. The team would improve in their second pass with a solid 3.730 run at 328.70 to move into the No. 7 spot. John Force and the BlueDEF Chevy, running a new body, looked strong early on their first run but would slow mid-track for only a 4.966-second pass at 156.48 mph. His Chevy Camaro would have more trouble in the night session crossing the finish line at only 9.055 and 77.24. The Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway continues with qualifying Saturday at 1:15 and 4:35 p.m. Sunday eliminations are slated to begin at noon. Television coverage of the event continues with a second qualifying show Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will begin on FS1 Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET. -30-

AUSTIN PROCK, 27, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:2nd; 3.707-seconds; 328.70 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+2 (second quickest Q2)BRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:7th; 3.730-seconds; 328.70 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0 JOHN FORCE, 73, BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:13th; 4.966-seconds; 156.48 mphBonus Qualifying Points: 0ROBERT HIGHT, 53, Flav-R-Pac Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:3rd; 3.894-seconds; 330.23 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+4 (quickest Q1, third quickest Q2)

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT APRIL 28, 2023 TEAM CHEVY TOPS FIRST PRACTICE AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske captured led the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix first practice with his lap of 1:06.6610.Will Power of Team Penske took the checkered flag for first practice third at Barber Motorsports Park with his late session lap of 1:06.8985, a difference of 0.2375 behind teammate McLaughlin.Team Chevy had four cars in the top-10 of the Friday afternoon practice session. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st       Scott McLaughlin3rd      Will Power7th      Josef Newgarden8th      Pato O’Ward WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:“The car is in the window, and I’m happy with the balance. There are obviously a few changes that we have to make for it to be a little bit better, but we’re in a good spot to have a good day tomorrow and Sunday.” Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:“Not super happy with today. The traffic was an issue, but I don’t think we have a top-six car right now. There’s some stuff to work on, but I’m not too worried about it. We just have to get the balance a bit more in the window and we should be good.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:“That’s a good start to the weekend. There were too many cars out there, honestly, but everyone is dealing with it. I feel like we have a great car to have a positive weekend and, hopefully, we can rebound from what’s been a difficult last two events.” Callum Ilott, No. 77 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:“Pretty okay. Finished P14. The tires are a little bit different this year, so we’re trying to find our way around those a little bit. So far, so good. Obviously, more things to fine-tune to help out for tomorrow. We’re doing quite a bit of data. I think tomorrow will be alright. Just need to improve in a couple of areas. All smiles, moving forward.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GOOD RANCHERS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – First Practice Press Conference Transcript:SCOTT, NICE START TO THE WEEKEND FOR YOU GUYS.“Yeah, thanks. Really good day. I feel like we had a really good car. Good Ranchers the first time on the car this weekend. Starting with a P1 is obviously good. It’s practice. For everyone to have a go on blacks, then reds, everyone is showing their cards a little bit. I feel good. I feel like my road course package is really strong. We won Portland, and have been really strong here, in road courses in the past, even at Laguna. I think first road course of the year, so really excited to be back on one.” IS THERE SOMETHING INNATE ABOUT ROAD COURSES THAT FITS YOUR DRIVING STYLE, FEELS NATURAL TO YOU HERE?“I think maybe just there’s a little bit less going on. Like, there’s a lot going on, don’t get me wrong. I think from bumps, standpoints of just how physical these cars are, probably on the lesser side. This place is hard on the neck because of the high speed. I really put Barber down to it’s one of the most committed tracks I’ve ever driven on. From a perspective of like racing Supercars at Bathurst, the commitment, laps there, this is a similar level in terms of committing to a lap, trusting what you have underneath you, even if you don’t understand what’s underneath you as well, which is the beauty of INDYCAR. Yeah, very happy with it. Our test translated really nicely. I feel comfortable. But there’s a lot of laps left to go.” NOW THAT YOU’RE A BIG TV STAR IN AMERICA, HOW NICE IS IT TO BACK THAT UP WITH A P1?“My wife is not here this weekend. She said, I’ll come if you get pole. So that’s my goal. I really like having my wife at the races. There’s no pressure there. But look, I think it’s just been fantastic, the doco. Obviously, we had me and Josef, Marcus, a pretty big part of that first episode. That’s a lot of pressure. From what I read online, everyone has been pretty welcome to it, thought it was great. I think what’s really cool about the doco is you could watch this racing for years and you understand everything, it kept you captivated. I thought at one place last night I was going to win the race again, but I didn’t. Then you have the normal fan that we’re really trying to target. It really shone a really good light on INDYCAR. I’m sure it’s going to be better and better. They’re filming everything right now. Really excited for what’s ahead for INDYCAR and can’t thank Roger and the team enough for really working hard on this. I think it’s a big step for INDYCAR.” SCOTT, OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE AT THE TOP OF THE CHART. HOW DID THE STOPPAGES AFFECT YOU TODAY?“It’s hard because this track is, like I said before, high commitment, you need confidence. Regardless, if I’ve done a heap of laps here in testing or not, it’s all about flow, getting into a rhythm. It’s a bit like playing a guitar or drums, whatever, you want to get into a rhythm of hitting your laps, learning how long the tires take to warm up. It’s hard when they stop and start like that. I was a bit worried there in the middle session. I thought we left our run too late. We did know our car was going to be reasonable, we just wanted to make sure we used the track at the right time. Thankfully came through. It’s tough. I think it would be harder if we hadn’t done the test day here about a month ago.” OFF OF WHAT WE SAW LAST NIGHT, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT WITH THE MONTH OF MAY COMING UP TO NOT OVERLOOK THIS RACE GIVEN WHAT’S COMING UP?“This race, it’s very important I think for me especially. At the end of the day we’re showing good speed, but we haven’t capitalized. Our bad races haven’t been bad, bad. We have been edging on a top 10 if not a top 10. I really want to win this race. It would really set us up well for the month, give us a lot of confidence. Not that we’re lacking any, but it would be a nice little pep. I always circle this one on the calendar as a very important one. Get out of here with some solid points and look to what is going to be a pretty long month of May.” WHICH GOOD RANCHERS BOX DO YOU RECOMMEND?“I get custom. I have a T-bone, New York strip. Got a little bit of chicken as well. I have to watch my weight. I’m on the heavier side of drivers. You can use my code ‘Scott’ and you can get 25% off. It’s on the interweb, yeah.” LOOKING FORWARD TO QUALIFYING TOMORROW. ONE LAP ON THE REDS, MAYBE TWO?“I don’t know. Depends on temps. I think you’ll be wanting to make sure your tires are probably ready for that second lap. If you go a third, I think you might just get it. It will really depend on the competitiveness of the group as well in qualifying.” I’VE BEEN READING A LOT ABOUT THE NEW WIND DEFLECTOR THERE IS FOR THE RAIN, IF THERE’S A RAIN SITUATION. CAN YOU TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT THAT AT ALL?“I can’t really because I haven’t really run with it. The one thing that’s really good about INDYCAR is they learn from what we’ve learned in the past. Indy GP was our last wet race. We learned we need to deflect some water off the screen. That’s what it’s ultimately going to do. I think we’re going to be constantly learning in that process. It’s a good step. I think it’s going to help. That’s optional, I think. I don’t know enough of it until we get into the wet race. I am sure the studies, the CAD drawings and everything they’ve done in the wind tunnels and whatnot, they’ll be all over it, it will be an improvement. Constantly evolving the screen, a new thing each time, but we’ll see.” YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT THE COMMITMENT YOU NEED THIS WEEKEND. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW HARD IT’S GOING TO BE TO KEEP YOUR CONCENTRATION ACROSS THE WHOLE RACE? LOOKED A BIT HAIRY OUT THERE A COUPLE TIMES.“That’s what it is at this track, so many different corners, high-speed stuff, then you have the seven, eight, nine section where you have to use a lot of commitment over curbs and then slow it down. It’s very hard physically on the body. Probably one of the hardest in terms of that. So, fitness-wise you got to be right. Yeah, it depends. If it turns into a fuel race, which it has in the last few years, you’ve got to think about saving fuel but trying to maximize speed as well. There’s a lot to think about around this track. But definitely at the end of Sunday night, you’re mentally drained probably more so than physically, which you are physically as well. It’s pretty crazy. I love racing here, I really do. I think it is one of the best road courses on the calendar. “ HOW DO YOU APPROACH NEXT PRACTICE SESSION WHEN YOU HAVE A FAST CAR? DO YOU GO FOR CHANGES? DO YOU STAY THE WAY IT IS?“Yeah, that’s a good question. You got to have a bit of a balance on how far you go with the car. But I think the best thing you learn in this session is you have a really good base. You can experiment with a few things. But then ultimately if it doesn’t work, you know you can go back to this race car and be there or abouts. But we’ll make calculated decisions going off of what we learnt from the test as well, where we think the track is going to be. Hopefully, we put it in the sweet spot. We’re going to have to improve. That’s INDYCAR. Overnight, people will find 10ths, half seconds. We have to work hard and make sure we come out flying tomorrow.”

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R earns highest starting spot; No. 3 Cadillac surprises fieldSTAVELOT, Belgium (April 28, 2023) — The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R earned the highest qualifying position of its maiden FIA World Endurance Championship season and its sister No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R was the surprise of the 13-car Hypercar field during the 15-minute session for the Six Hours of Spa. Earl Bamber negotiated the tricky 7.004km (4.35-mile), 20-turn Spa-Francorchamps circuit on a damp and chilly afternoon to record a best lap of 2 minutes, 01.043 seconds – only two-tenths off the lap time of the pole-winning effort of the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – to claim the outside of Row 2 for the third round of the championship.The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R had previously qualified fifth at Sebring and eighth at Portugal and has advanced more positions (five) that any other Hypercar in the two races. The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, was also second quick in the morning free practice session. The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, making its WEC debut this weekend, qualified fifth with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel with a best lap of 2:02.138. Bourdais and co-drivers Renger van der Zande and Jack Aitken had only put 35 laps on the brand-new racecar in the three free practice sessions.

The Six Hours of Spa is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET / 12:45 p.m. Central European time Saturday. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage in the U.S.. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of the race. Live streaming is also available through a subscription on the FIA WEC app. Additionally, a one-of-a-kind viewing experience is available via the cockpit camera in the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R. WATCH

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.REarl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard WestbrookBamber drove in the 15-minute qualifying session (qualified fourth with lap of 2 minutes, 01.043 seconds; seven total laps): “We’ve been working and working, and I think today was really good with P2 in practice three and not far off the pole. To be honest, we’re building more and more and that is what this team is all about. Again today, two-tenths from pole, now we start to show what we can do. It’s the hard work of the guys between Portugal and now, and we’re not going to stop until we get there.” No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Jack AitkenBourdais drove in the 15-minute qualifying session (qualified fifth with lap of 2 minutes, 2.138 seconds; six total laps): “Obviously, not having any clue of what the balance was going to be, not having actually run that tire before, I think we can be pretty happy with the result. We’ll take a good look at the data and try to make it good for the long runs.”

Keating qualifies fourth in Corvette team’s push for three straight GTE Am victories FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (April 28, 2023) – Corvette Racing will start from the second row in Saturday’s Six Hours of Spa for the FIA World Endurance Championship as Ben Keating posted the fourth-fastest time in the GTE Am class in qualifying.

Keating set a best lap of 2:20.160 (112.282 mph) in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he’s driving with Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone. The trio is on a tear through two races with consecutive victories at Sebring and Portimao, a pole position the last time out in Portugal, and a healthy lead in Driver and Team points. Those results mean that the Corvette is carrying an additional 45 kilograms (99.2 pounds) of “rewards weight”, per the GTE Am regulations to balance the competition throughout the season. Cars that finish the previous two races first, second or third must on-board additional weight on a sliding scale of 15-10-5 kilograms. In addition, the same amounts of ballast apply to the top-three entries in the GTE Am championship standings. A red-flag stoppage with a little more six-and-a-half minutes to go split the qualifying session into two parts. Keating banked a lap early that was good enough for second before the action came to a halt. While a front-row spot would have been ideal, starting fourth in a 14-car field is positive considering the extra weight that the C8.R has earned through two rounds. This is the third consecutive season in which Corvette Racing has competed in the Spa Six Hours – the last two years in the GTE Pro category. The team finished fourth in both 2021 and 2022. The Six Hours of Spa for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET / 12:45 p.m. Central European time Saturday. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race. Live streaming video – of the race and on-board camera feed of the No. 33 Corvette – also is available through a subscription on the FIA WEC app.

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FOURTH IN GTE AM: “I think the red flag benefitted us. P4 is a really good result for carrying 45 extra kilos on this particular track. Even without those, I don’t know if I was able to keep up with (pole-winner Ahmad) Al Harthy in the Aston Martin. The Aston is really strong around here. Last year I qualified a second-and-a-half ahead of the field in the Aston around here. But they’ve got a bunch more power and we’ve got a bunch more weight!“Qualifying was good. From my time in IMSA in the LMP2, I’m pretty good at getting heat in the tires and doing a decent lap (early). I’ve learned from being in WEC for four years that you have to have a lap where you have no track limits before you start to push. So I got in one decent lap and I really felt like I could go faster, but then we had the red flag. I was going to be in the mid-2:18s on that lap; it was really good. But after the red flag, I went out and just got too greedy. I tried to push too hard and had a lock-up going into Turn Five. I just wasn’t able to do a quicker lap after the peak of the tire. “The red flag kept me from doing a quicker lap but it also kept everyone else from doing a quicker lap, which is why I say because I get the tires up to pressure quickly and because I can do a lap quickly, it was a benefit to us that not everybody else got to do a lap. I’m excited to start the race P4. I think that’s a great starting place for having an extra 45 kilos in the car. I’m excited to be on the second row and that’s not too bad. I’d rather be on the inside than the outside. But the way the odd number of prototypes is, I think that might come true. I think I might actually be on the inside of the third row judging the way it’s been the first two races. It will be a long race but I’m happy to start in the front half of our class.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I feel like it’s going to be difficult here. We’re really feeling the 45 kilos. Of course we also had 30 kilos at Portimao. It’s almost like not every kilo is the same. At one point, you cannot keep adding. You’re going to fall off a cliff, which I feel like we’ve done now. It’s going to be tough to compete here with the long straights and the uphills. But let’s see. We are always very good at not making mistakes. Strategically, the team is very good. In the pitlane we are very good. We just need to keep our heads down, don’t get too lost in our pace deficit, keep doing what we are doing and see where we end up.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Spa has been difficult for us in FP1 and FP2. We are struggling with the ballast. Some of the setup changes seemed to work from FP1 to FP2. We had a little bit more for FP3 but it rained so we couldn’t test it. It will be a tough race but we need to do what we do always – stay out of trouble, try to be as fast as we can, keep it clean, be fast on the pit stops like we always are and maximize our weekend to make the most amount of points possible. If we do that, we’ll be happy with any position where we finish.”Spa is a track for me where I have good memories. I really enjoy it. It’s my favorite track. For me, every lap is one that I enjoy a lot. I have to say with the Corvette C8.R, it’s even better. It’s been enjoyable this week even though it’s tough for us. I’m grateful to be racing here, and to do it with Corvette is even better.”

2023 FIA World Endurance Championship – GTE Am (After two of seven events)Driver Standings1. Ben Keating/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone – 642. Christian Ried/Julien Andlauer/Mikkel Pedersen – 333. Simon Mann/Stefano Constantini/Ulysse De Pauw – 284. Davide Rigon/Francesco Castellacci/Thomas Flohr – 275. Daniel Serra/Scott Huffaker/Takeshi Kimura – 24 Team Standings1. No. 33 Corvette Racing – 642. No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing – 333. No. 21 AF Corse – 284. No. 54 AF Corse – 275. No. 57 Kessel Racing – 24 CORVETTE RACING AT SPA: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 24 previous years: Sebring, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (later this year). • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2020-present).• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.• 124: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 271: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 354,050.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some! Corvette Racing at Spa-Francorchamps2021No. 63 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Oliver Gavin – 4th in GTE Pro (Gavin’s final Corvette race) 2022No. 64 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 4th in GTE Pro

Ahead of Cadillac V-Series.R’s first trip to Monterey track

Alexander Sims, co-driver with Pipo Derani of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R in the Grand Touring Prototype class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, met with the media via Zoom conference to preview the upcoming race in Monterey, California. Q&A with Sims transcript:

TELL US ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST GETTING BACK TO LAGUNA SECA.“I’m looking forward to getting back to Laguna. It has a pretty unique track surface there, thankfully still, I believe. There is a lovely mix of corners in a nice part of the world. Looking forward to just driving the track and trying to get our teeth stuck into understanding how these GTP cars can work best around there. As Mathieu (Jaminet, Penske Porsche) was touching on, I think it’s new for all of us with these cars. We’re embarking on an unknown journey at each of these circuits that we go to. We sort of do the simulator work, and the engineers have a certain expectation of what it should be in terms of competitiveness for us. Once we’re on the ground, the circuit conditions are inevitably slightly different to what one expects. We have to adapt and try to optimize our package as quickly as possible while still working on the fundamental development of this car as well because we are still in the early stages of development.” YOU MADE REFERENCE TO THE UNIQUE SURFACE AND THAT IT’S STILL THE SAME WHEN YOU’RE THERE IN TWO WEEKS. IS THERE A COMFORT GOING THERE WITH A NEW CAR BUT A SURFACE YOU’RE FAMILIAR WITH?“I don’t know. I just like the track surface as it is because it’s a different type of surface compared to many that we would race on. I enjoy going places and having different challenges to work through. Certainly tire degradation will be a bit of a pain for us, and maybe I’ll be kicking myself for saying that I was looking forward to it before the weekend if we do struggle with tire deg or something through the race. Who knows? It’s a challenge that I enjoy. These cars are so different, honestly, particularly compared to stuff I’ve worked with before and even the team with the DPi last year with a different Michelin tire, there’s not a huge amount that is the same and can be transferred from that learning in terms of specific engineering items. The fact that the track surface is the same… it is a bit of a known quantity that we are likely to have tire deg going into it. But beyond that, there is not a huge amount of learning into it. It at least doesn’t throw another variable into the mix. I’ve had in the past some new track surfaces that you go to and it treats the tire completely different to what you were expecting. Sometimes you have to really change cambers and things a lot to try and manage tire temperatures that you weren’t expecting. It’s a nice variable to have through the season – to go to some high-deg tracks and low-deg tracks and have a different challenge.” WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CORNER TO GET RIGHT AT LAGUNA TO EITHER EXTRACT LAP TIME OR MAKING A MOVE ON ANOTHER DRIVER?“It’s very difficult to pick just one that is the most important. I don’t know how you say one over any other. They’re all tough at Laguna, to be honest. They all have different characteristics … some off-camber and some on-camber, and slow-, medium- and even Turn Nine that is pretty high-speed.” DOES HAVING CADILLACS IN BOTH IMSA AND WEC HAS SPED UP THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?“From Cadillac’s side, it certainly has been helpful to have the WEC guys running. There have been a few occasions where we’ve had feedback from our race weekend and they’ve then had a race in between. Even Sebring when they had the Prologue, there were learnings that we were able to feed into their program and they were able to feed into ours. At the end, it’s small, incremental improvements. It’s not like they come up with some brand new suspension geometry that is going to add tenths of a second to your laptime or take it away, even. But there are small improvements to software items, usability of that from a driver’s perspective on track… we can get up to speed with some things a little quicker, but it’s a constant learning process that we’re going through. All the extra track time that you have is always extra learning, so it’s definitely a benefit, I would say.”

The 58 year old continues to stay committed to the one thing he knows most – racing

GRANITE CITY, IL (April 27, 2023) – A regular week for Bill Rose is anything but regular.

On Mondays, Rose heads to his day job like many – building interior trim for homes. The Plainfield, IN native will do that throughout the week and when slower days permit, he drives to Terre Haute Action Track – where he recently took over promotional duties – to lend a hand. Oh, and on the weekends, he follows one of motorsports’ most demanding schedules – the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series 80-plus race tour.

The interior work and promotional role would be enough for most, but an unshakeable passion powers his continued tenure with The Greatest Show on Dirt as the Series heads to a pair of tracks close to home – Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, IL) and Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN) – this weekend (April 28-29).

“I’m stupid. I shouldn’t do it,” Rose said with a laugh about his non-stop lifestyle. “But I love to do it, and I want to do it with the Outlaws. It’s something I love to do.”

Rose has been racing Sprint Cars for more than three decades. It’s his life. It’s something he can’t imagine not being involved with in some capacity.

“Everybody asks me, ‘Why don’t you do something else?’” Rose said. “I don’t know what else to do. It’s all I’ve ever done is race.”

It’s that dedication that played a part in his recent decision to get involved at Terre Haute. Promoting is another avenue to stay engaged with the sport he loves and might even lead to another level down the road – ownership. With an uncertain future surrounding the track heading into 2023, a few conversations led to the opportunity arising, and Rose wasted no time jumping into action.

“It’s just something I’ve been thinking about and trying to dabble in is doing some promoting or maybe even owning a track in the future,” Rose explained. “It was like, why not? I might as well jump in and do it.

“A buddy of mine lives in Terre Haute, and he’s lived down there forever,” Rose said. “We were talking about the racetrack and the stuff that had happened last year with the guys that were promoting it getting into it with the fair board and everything. I told him that I’d like to maybe dabble in that sometime down the road. And he mentioned it to somebody, and finally I got a phone call and one thing led to another. We put a program together to do three races this year, and we’ll see how it plays out.”

Another motivating factor was Rose’s desire to preserve a piece of Sprint Car racing history. The “Action Track” opened in 1952 and has seen some of open-wheel racing’s finest names circle its surface over the years. The historic half mile lies close to Rose’s heart.

“Terre Haute has always been one of my favorite places,” Rose said. “My two favorite racetracks have always been Terre Haute and Manzanita, and Manzanita is gone. And I don’t know who was going to promote it (Terre Haute) if I didn’t take it over for this year, and we can’t lose Terre Haute. I’m going to try my damndest to do what I can to keep it going.”

Shifting back to his current endeavors on the World of Outlaws tour, it goes without saying that “free time” isn’t a phrase that exists in Rose’s world. Competing on the grueling campaign requires much more than showing up at the racetrack on the weekend. Rose doesn’t have the luxury of a full crew to monitor his operation throughout the week while he tends to his other responsibilities. But he does have the help of his trusted partner, Amanda Hoegsted.

“She’s in the shop all of the time,” Rose said. “If I can’t get the cars cleaned up, she does that. She cleans the trailer up. She does the general maintenance on the car and stuff like that. Whatever she can do, she does. She’ll do the mounting the tires and grooving tires and stuff like that. She does everything she can during the week for sure. I keep her pretty busy with that.”

So far, this season hasn’t gone how Rose would’ve preferred on the racetrack. He’s struggled to earn his desired results and admits he’s been puzzled by the lack of performance.

On the bright side, Rose has pieced together a new car for this weekend’s races at Tri-City Speedway and Tri-State Speedway. The 58 year old owns more experience than most at either facility having competed with a blend of the World of Outlaws, United States Auto Club (USAC), and Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) at both.

No matter the result this weekend or throughout the rest of the year, Rose’s motivation and diligence will remain a constant. Weekdays he’ll handle whatever work projects await while also putting in the effort to usher Terre Haute into its next era of promotion. And when the weekend rolls around, the time comes for him to do what he loves most – wheel a 900-plus horsepower machine with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars.

“It’s all I ever want to do (race),” Rose said. “Ask Amanda. She’ll tell you that’s all I do. She wants to go do some other stuff and it’s like, when do we have time? I’ve got toys that I want to play with.”

You can catch Rose playing with those toys this weekend with the World of Outlaws at Tri-City Speedway and Tri-State Speedway. For tickets to Tri-City, CLICK HERE. For tickets to Tri-State, call (812) 768-6025.

No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R competing at Spa; No. 2 Cadillac is third-quick in sessionSTAVELOT, Belgium (April 27, 2023) — The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R made its FIA World Endurance Championship debut Thursday during the initial free practice for the Six Hours of Spa, joining the sister No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R on the 7.004km (4.35-mile), 20-turn Spa-Francorchamps circuit.Primarily, Cadillac Racing entered the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R as a warmup for next month’s centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it will be joined by the No. 2 Hypercar and the No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R. Still, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R has proven itself exceptionally competitive through two rounds of its maiden WEC season and the sister car should not be discounted from challenging for the win either. “We never show up to the racetrack not to win, so we’re going to do the best we can,” said Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing which runs the Nos. 2 and 3 Cadillac prototypes. “It is really a training and learning experience for us from logistics to rules to the car. Typically, we would do a private test beforehand, but today was the shakedown. The car did everything it was supposed to, this is the IMSA crew running the car this weekend so we’re making sure they know how scrutineering works, how pit stops work and just taking everything in and be as prepared as we can for Le Mans.”Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Jack Aitken will co-drive the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R in the race Saturday. Bourdais put 18 laps on the Michelin tires in the morning session and was quick straightaway. Van der Zande completed two laps in the afternoon free practice before stopping between Turns 11 and 12. Due to a self-induced mistake, we are going to have some extra work to do tonight but we’re looking forward to competing in the third free practice, qualifying and the six-hour race, Chip Ganassi Racing said in a statement.The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, was third-quick in the afternoon session with a best lap of 2 minutes, 3.388 seconds and ran 58 trouble-free laps in the two sessions scheduled for 180 total minutes but both cut short by red flags. The third free practice is Friday morning followed by the 15-minute qualifying session to set the grid for Saturday’s race on the iconic facility in the Ardennes. The Six Hours of Spa for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET / 12:45 p.m. Central European time Saturday. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race. Live streaming video of qualifying and the race also is available through a subscription on the FIA WEC app. Additionally, a one-of-a-kind viewing experience is available via the cockpit camera in the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R. WATCH

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.REarl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard WestbrookLynn: “Just excited to get this car on the track; another new adventure for us on the WEC team. I think the car performance was good and we’re right there. With WEC, you have to be on it from the start. You have to have a good baseline setup, drivers ready to go because the weather – especially here – offers a mixture of things so we need to have everyone ready and the car in a good window. I think we have.” No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Jack AitkenBourdais after his drive in morning session: “Obviously, we didn’t have any clear targets. It essentially was a shakedown and then we we’re hoping to get as many laps as we could after the systems check and it actually turned out the car ran, and we didn’t have any issues. It went as well as we could hope for. We have a lot of figuring out to do with tires and setups, but at least operationally and functionally the car is working fine and we’re pretty happy how we started. Now we can get going and hopefully have a good weekend.”

April 27, 2023

After some positive experiences at Talladega Superspeedway, Harrison Burton and the DEX Imaging team have turned their focus to this weekend’s Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.

Crew chief Brian Wilson said he was pleased to see his team’s car lead the GEICO 500 at Talladega for 11 laps during a stretch in which Burton and his fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney waged a 1-2 battle for the lead.

“It was great to see the No. 21 Ford Mustang up front at Talladega and leading laps,” Wilson said. “Everyone including our pit crew, Ford Performance, Roush Yates Engines and Harrison all did a great job to place our car at the front of the field.

“Also, it was great to be a part of surprising Jeff Burton with the announcement of being included in the top 75 drivers in NASCAR’s history. Personally, I’m curious to see how many of the final 75 have driven a car for the Wood Brothers team.”

With Talladega in the rear-view mirror, Wilson, Burton and the DEX Imaging team now are busy preparing for the high-banked one-mile concrete track known as the Monster Mile.

“As we head to Dover we’re studying all that has changed since the early May race last year,” Wilson said. “Several rule changes, a new Mustang body and the quick learning curve of the Cup series are all included.”

Wilson also noted that the track is one of his favorites.

“Dover is one of the most dramatic tracks that you can watch a car turn a lap on,” he said. “The high speeds, hard loading and moving racing lines make it one of my favorite tracks to visit. 

“I’m excited for the weekend and the chance to keep improving with the No. 21 team.”

Practice for the Wurth 400 is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with qualifying following at 11:20. FOX Sports 2 will carry the broadcast.

Sunday’s 400-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 2 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 120 and 250.

 

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE

Würth 400Dover Motor Speedway Dover, Delaware April 30, 2023

DEFENDING AT DOVERChevrolet will look to extend its recent and historic success at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend with the one-mile concrete oval holding the next stop on the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) circuit. Coming off a weekend sweep at Talladega Superspeedway, the Bowtie brand will make its return to the Delaware venue not only as the series’ most recent winner this season, but also as the defending winner in both series at the track.

TAMING THE MONSTERAt the track nicknamed “The Monster Mile”, Chevrolet holds the all-time win record in two of NASCAR’s top series – collecting wins in 43 of the 104 NASCAR Cup Series races and 33 of the 76 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.

Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1Dover Motor Speedway – May 2, 2022 Chevrolet has made the trip to victory lane in the NCS’ two most recent appearances at Dover Motor Speedway courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (May 2021) and Chase Elliott (May 2022). Both of those victories were celebrated by a podium sweep by the Bowtie brand, with Hendrick Motorsports taking it one step further in 2021 by placing all four of its drivers in the top four- a feat that had never been accomplished in the organization’s storied NCS history. Josh BerryNo. 8 JR Motorsports Camaro SSDover Motor Speedway – April 30, 2022 JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry is credited with Chevrolet’s most recent NXS win at the Delaware venue – scoring his first win of the season and a playoff berth in the series’ April 2022 event. Mimicking the success of its affiliate team Hendrick Motorsports, the JRM drivers took four of the top-five positions in the event with Berry leading Justin Allgaier (second), Noah Gragson (fourth) and Sam Mayer (fifth). Another accomplishment of note for the manufacturer came in the timespan of June 1993 to June 2001 with Chevrolet collecting wins in 16 of series’ 17 NXS races at the track.

JOHNSON RULES AT DOVERNo other driver has found success at Dover Motor Speedway like career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion recorded a series-best 11 wins at “The Monster Mile” in his 19-year illustrious career. Johnson’s first two wins at the Delaware oval came in his rookie campaign – sweeping both NCS races in 2002. His most recent came in June 2017, ultimately marking his final win before retiring from full-time NCS competition in 2020.

BUSCH ADDS TO SEASON’S REPEAT WINNERS LISTIn a race that saw a record 56 lead changes among 21 different drivers and a double attempt at an overtime finish, it was Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 team that took home the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend. The victory – Chevrolet’s seventh in 10 NASCAR Cup Series races – marked Busch’s second triumph since starting his tenure at Richard Childress Racing. The 37-year-old Nevada native also became the third repeat winner of the season in NASCAR’s premier series. Chevrolet continues to be the only manufacturer to have a repeat winner in the series thus far with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Kyle Larson joining Busch on that elite list.

DOUBLE-DIGIT UPDATEChevrolet has been on the fast-track to success this season with Kyle Busch’s Talladega triumph marking the manufacturer’s seventh win in 10 NASCAR Cup Series races this season. As the series’ season hits double-digits, a look at the Bowtie brand’s season highlights:

Chevrolet’s series-leading seven NCS wins this season have been recorded by drivers from three different Chevrolet teams: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (JTG Daugherty Racing), Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing), William Byron and Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports). Stenhouse Jr.’s Daytona 500 victory marked Chevrolet’s first of four-straight victories to open the season – marking the first time since 2001 that a manufacturer has swept the first four races in a single season in NASCAR’s premier series. In the six NCS, NXS and NCTS tripleheader race weekends this season, Chevrolet has recorded a weekend sweep on two occasions. Busch led Chevrolet to four top-10 finishes at Talladega – recorded by four drivers from four different Chevrolet teams. This marks the third time this season that four different Chevrolet teams have been represented in the top-10 of a single event, also occurring at Daytona International Speedway and Circuit of The Americas. Chevrolet drivers have swept the podium in three NCS races this season, taking it one step further at Auto Club Speedway with a one-two-three-four finish. Chevrolet – the defending NCS Manufacturer’s Champion – has maintained the lead of the series’ manufacturer points standings throughout the season’s first 10 races. Four different Chevrolet teams have contributed to the manufacturer points standings thus far including: Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, JTG Daugherty Racing and Spire Motorsports.

KAULIG RACING’S ALL-STAR NXS CAR SHINES IN 2023At the beginning of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Kaulig Racing transitioned its No. 10 Camaro SS team to an “All-Star” car with a variety of drivers from the Bowtie brigade sharing the driving duties. The roster for the team’s third entry has featured Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series regulars Justin Haley and AJ Allmendinger, Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, and series’ newcoming Derek Kraus.  The team’s elite driver lineup has powered the No. 10 Camaro SS to a top-10 finish in the first eight NXS races of the season, including a win by Allmendinger at Circuit of The Americas in March – his first time returning to the series since moving to full-time NCS competition. Kraus has been tapped as the team’s driver for the series’ past three races with Richmond Raceway marking his first career start in the series. The 21-year-old Wisconsin native drove the No. 10 Camaro SS to a 10th-place finish in his series’ debut, with the young driver following up the impressive run with an eighth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway one week later.

BURTON ADDS WIN, PLAYOFF BERTHJeb Burton became the third different Chevrolet driver to claim a win and a playoff berth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season after driving his No. 27 Camaro SS through a double overtime finish to take the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway. The victory marked Burton’s second career victory in the series and the first for Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport since the organization began competing in the series in 2021. 

Burton delivered Chevrolet it’s series-leading sixth victory in nine NXS races this season. The Bowtie brand has held the top position in the series’ manufacturer points standings all season long, with the manufacturer now sitting at a 33-point lead over its competitors. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill drove his No. 21 Camaro SS to a pole win and top-10 finishes in both stages at Talladega. Despite getting collected in a late-race accident that resulted in an 18th-place finish, Hill was able to reclaim the lead in the NXS driver points standings.

BOWTIE BULLETS:·       Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Dover Motor Speedway:  Kyle Busch – 3 (2017, 2010, 2008)Chase Elliott – 2 (2022, 2018)Alex Bowman – 1 (2021)Kyle Larson – 1 (2019) ·       In 104 NASCAR Cup Series races at Dover Motor Speedway, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 43 victories – two of which came in the past two NCS races held at the track (Chase Elliott – 2022; Alex Bowman – 2021).  ·       Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins by an organization at Dover Motor Speedway with 22 among seven different drivers, most recently by Chase Elliott (2022). ·       Career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson is the NASCAR Cup Series’ all-time win leader at Dover Motor Speedway with 11 wins. In addition, Johnson has recorded 18 top-fives, 27 top-10s and 3,113 laps led at the Delaware oval, making it the winningest track of his career. ·       Only three drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series are repeat winners this season, all coming from Team Chevy (William Byron – Las Vegas & Phoenix; Kyle Larson – Richmond & Martinsville; Kyle Busch – Auto Club and Talladega).  ·       In 10 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race this season, Chevrolet continues to lead the series in wins (seven), top-fives (23), top-10s (43), stage wins (11) and laps led (1,190). ·       Chevrolet’s series-leading seven NASCAR Cup Series wins this season have been recorded by drivers from three different Chevrolet teams: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (JTG Daugherty Racing), Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing), William Byron and Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports). ·       Chevrolet drivers have recorded 11 of the 20 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins this season: William Byron (five; series-leading), Ross Chastain (three), Kyle Larson (two) and Chase Elliott (one).  ·       Chevrolet continues to sit atop the manufacturer points standings in all three NASCAR national series, leading by 40 points in the NASCAR Cup Series, 33 points in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and four points in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  ·       With its 41 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer’s Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver’s Championships, and 840 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.  Tune In: NASCAR Cup Series – Würth 400; 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 30(FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90) NASCAR Xfinity Series – A-GAME 200; 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 29(FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

QUOTABLE QUOTES:ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1What is it like racing at Dover, especially with this version of the car?“It’s awesome to drive off of the cliff in Turn 1 and then down the hill and across the bumps in Turn 3. I love going to Dover and racing anything there. Dover was one of the tracks I was a little worried about with this car last year, but I got there and everyone had their ducks in a row and we weren’t doing anything crazy with tires and wrecking.” What was your first laps at Dover like since it is such an intense track?“I remember when I made my first Truck Series start at Dover in 2012. My first lap was a large pucker factor moment. I had to try and breathe through the process. Early on I was not breathing making laps. I’ve learned how to cope with it and how to prepare for it and breathe properly now.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 GET BIOETHANOL CAMARO ZL1What’s the sensation of speed at Dover like?“Racing at Dover Speedway is like a rollercoaster ride with no tracks. There’s none like it, a lot of pace there, you’re driving down into the corner coming off of a four-story banking to the bottom of the track and you just try to catch your breath and get back on the gas, to drive off the corner and do that for 400 laps. Once you get into the race you get into a rhythm, and you start to feel comfortable. The first couple of laps are always hard on you.” What is the most challenging part about Dover Motor Speedway?“It’s a hard concrete track and we have to try and make sure our shock package is good and hopefully, the Get Bioethanol Chevrolet handles well. Maybe the line will move around, but it’s usually right around the bottom. As the rubber lays down it gets harder to do more with the car. Dover is a Monster, but my No. 3 Chevrolet team is up for the challenge.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1Larson on his confidence coming to Dover Motor Speedway: “I look forward to racing at Dover (Motor Speedway) this weekend. The past two years there with the No. 5 team we have been fast with two top-10 finishes. I feel like I’ve had a super competitive race car at almost every track this season and expect nothing less at Dover. It would be great to get a win there with Hendrick Motorsports.” CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1Daniels on preparing for Dover: “Kyle (Larson) has a really good knack for driving at Dover (Motor Speedway). He has a great feel for that place. Really, it’s going to be on us to get him a car that he is comfortable with so he can move around when the track takes rubber and drive the way he wants to drive. Admittedly, we did miss that a little bit last year. We were competitive but not quite as strong as we wanted to be. We do have the data points from last year and we’ve learned a lot of things since that hopefully we can apply and put a good foot forward.” KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1You have had a lot of success at Dover. How does that track fit your driving style so well?“I’ve always enjoyed Dover. I feel like it’s a big Bristol so I think going there is kind of fun. It’s really a unique track with the elevation change from the straightaways to the corners, the drop down and the jump back out of the hole that you have going from straightaway to corner and back to straightaway. It’s definitely gotten more character over the years being rougher into Turn 3. That’s the tricky part of the track is trying to figure out Turn 3 and how you get through the bumps over there.”  How demanding is qualifying at Dover?“Qualifying at Dover is sometimes demanding just because the speeds there are so high. You’re in the corner longer than the straightaways so that track is definitely a challenge. A couple of years ago when we went to the higher downforce package it was wide-open qualifying which was crazy. These cars are a little bit different but still super-fast considering the size of the track at Dover. Qualifying is also important because of pit selection. Pit road there is really, really tight and you definitely want to have a good stall, somewhere with an opening, preferably, to get in okay and get out clean.” Why is the pit road at Dover so challenging?“The biggest challenge of the pit road at Dover is because it’s so narrow and also the speeds are low there too, so if you have a green flag stop you tend to go a couple laps down so you don’t want to have a green flag stop.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 Elliott on racing at Dover: “I think just it being concrete, it’s a very, very fine line but has a lot of speed. You might not be going as fast as you do on some other tracks, but it always feels like you’re going pretty fast there. So, that makes it fun from a driver’s standpoint. After a while, you know, you get kind of used to going at a fast pace until you hit something and you’re reminded how fast you’re going. But Dover, that sensation of speed is always very real and that’s exciting for us to do something little different.” Elliott on his success at Dover: “It was good to get another win there last year. For whatever reason, that track has suited what I look for in the car. We ran well there on the Xfinity side too. I’m not sure I know exactly what that is, but it has lent itself to some good results over the last six, seven years. Hopefully we can continue that.” AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 NUTRIEN AG SOLUTIONS CAMARO ZL1 “Last year, I felt like we had a really good car in Dover. It’s a place that I really enjoy driving at and I’ve always had fun there. Hopefully we can get some momentum and erase what has happened the last few weeks and start over. We’re definitely making gains on the race cars so I think this can be a really good race track for us. Looking to put together a solid weekend and start building from there.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1Byron on the challenges of Dover: “Dover (Motor Speedway) is just a tough place in general. We’ve always had really fast cars there, even with the Next Gen cars, but this track has a bit of a survival technique to it. The track is hard on the car, hard on a driver, and one mistake can result in the end of your day or put you behind by quite a bit. That’s what happened last year unfortunately. We were able to overcome a wreck in practice, but then a caution during green-flag pit stops late in the race put us in a hole we couldn’t get out of. If we show up with the speed we usually have, though, and the speed we have shown this year, we should be in good shape. It will just be about maintaining that track position the whole race.” RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1Fugle on what makes Dover so difficult: “First, Dover (Motor Speedway) is always tough on equipment. There’s vertical load on the tires, the car, the suspension, etc. As we found out on lap one of practice last year, that vertical load can put you on the shock tops real quick if you don’t have it pinpointed perfect, which can put you in the wall really quick. It’s a treacherous race track when it comes to that. Once you get into the race, the drivers are working really hard. Any time you have that many g-forces on your body, it feels like it’s trying to be thrown outside the car every corner. That takes a toll on the drivers. Lastly, it’s one of the tracks that changes a lot as the race goes on.” JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1“We had a great run at Dover last season and led a lot of laps. We almost got ourselves a top 10 there as well. It’s a track I really enjoy racing at, so it will be a unique birthday weekend for me. Hopefully Kaulig Racing will be just as fast there as we were last year.” NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 42 SUNSEEKER RESORTS CAMARO ZL1“We have had some good runs at Dover in the Xfinity Series and we can lean on Erik (Jones) and Dave (Elenz) for their experience at Dover last season in this NextGen car. I was really proud of the No. 42 team’s performance at Talladega, unfortunately we weren’t able to close it out. We have a lot of points to make up, so we need to build on the momentum we had last week.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1 “Dover is a cool place; I like going there. It’s been a fun track, and it’s fast. I think for qualifying Dover is one of the higher intensity tracks of the season, because of the speed you have to carry there. It is definitely a cool track, and I am looking forward to competing in the Allegiant Chevy this weekend. With the next Gen cars, I think Dover is one of the places where it performs very similarly. We still moved around a lot and ran some similar lanes if you run the bottom, so it was more similar in my opinion and probably more similar than most guys thought. I don’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary, and I am hoping to build off our success in Talladega.” BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1Harris on preparing for Dover with Josh Berry: “Everyone on the No. 48 team is wishing Alex (Bowman) a speedy recovery and we hope to have him back as soon as he is healthy. With Josh (Berry) this weekend, we are fortunate enough to have had him in the No. 9 car recently, so we kind of know what driver comfort items we needed so we were able to get him in here and get him fit. We also got a simulator session in with him so as far as preparation for this weekend goes, I feel like we are in as good of shape as we can be considering the time crunch we are in to get the car to Dover (Motor Speedway). Josh has a 1.5 average finish at Dover in Xfinity and finished second in an ARCA (Menards Series East) car there, so I don’t think we could go to a track that is better suited for a plug-and-play guy. Our approach this weekend is just to take it one step at a time, no mistakes, and get Josh comfortable enough to get the No. 48 in contention.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1Why do you like Dover? “Actually, Dover is one of my favorite tracks that we go to. It’s so much fun and the feeling you get inside the car is pretty incredible. It’s also been one of my best tracks, statistically. My expectations are really high for this weekend because I have run so well in the past there.”  Is there momentum after Talladega?“Yes, we had a very fast car. We have had fast cars in most of the races this year. Our program is getting better and better. Our pit stops have been fantastic lately as well. We still have a lot of learning to do and things we can improve, but I think we will start getting the type of finishes we expect and deserve here soon.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics  Manufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2022): 41First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15) Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 33First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)                2023 STATISTICS:                                                                                                    Wins: 7Poles: 3Laps Led: 1,190Top-five finishes: 23Top-10 finishes: 43Stage wins: 11·       Ross Chastain – 3 (Daytona), (Auto Club x2)·       William Byron – 5 (Las Vegas x2), (Phoenix), (COTA), (Richmond)·       Kyle Larson – 2 (Phoenix), (Bristol Dirt)·       Chase Elliott – 1 (Talladega)  CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 840 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 737Laps led to date: 246,734Top-five finishes to date: 4,244Top-10 finishes to date: 8,755                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,174           Chevrolet: 840           Pontiac: 154           Oldsmobile: 115           Buick: 65            Ford: 821                                                                      Ford: 721           Mercury: 96           Lincoln: 4            Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467           Dodge: 217           Plymouth: 191           Chrysler: 59            Toyota: 172

CONCORD, N.C. (April 26, 2023) – For only the second time in Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown history, Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks will battle it out across four lanes at this weekend’s Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte. 

Coming off a victory at the season opening Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida, Joe Welch enters the Four-Wide Nationals not only with the points lead but a national speed record to his name and the $1,000 bounty on his back. He’ll have some added obstacles this weekend, Welch has never raced in the four-wide format. 

Gatornationals winner Joe Welch, photo by Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

“This will be my first time racing four-wide. I’ve been asking my friends what to expect. I don’t want to get clocked out up there,” Welch said. “I’ll have to get my game face on. But I’m looking forward to it, a new experience. I’m sure it puts you on your toes and I’ll probably struggle a little bit. I’m 74-years old, so change doesn’t come easy. I’m looking forward to it.”

Welch and his Joe Welch Racing Dodge Drag Pak picked up the $1,000 bounty at the Gatornationals through the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program after defeating previous race winner Aaron Stanfield in his Janac Brothers Chevrolet COPO Camaro during the finals. Welch will now carry the bounty until he is beaten, with $1,000 being added each race weekend he goes undefeated. 

“When you have the bounty on you, it’s exciting, everyone is gunning for you. It’s kind of fun. Having a bullseye on our back, gives everyone a little more motivation,” said Welch, who set the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown national speed record at 185.18 mph during the Gatornationals finals. “We have some things to work on with the car, some suspension work. Found some things in Gainesville but we hoped for the best and it worked out for us.

“I didn’t really think about the national record until after the race. Speed is an indication of horsepower. Most of our speed came from us getting the attitude of the car right. We worked hard to get our nose down and make it more aerodynamic,” Welch said. “Of course, you want to have your name on any record out there, I just wish there was more weight behind it with points or something.”

Eager to get back into his COPO Camaro is Stanfield, who ended the 2022 season on a strong note and has carried over that momentum. He’s currently second in points after earning the No.1. qualifier at the Gatornationals before finishing runner-up to Welch. 

“We learned a lot last year racing four-wide and I think that will help us this weekend,” said Stanfield. “It has been a while since the Gatornationals and I am looking forward to getting back in the seat. I think the bar has been raised in this class and there are a lot of cars out here that can win a race at any time.”

Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown will kick-off at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway with qualifying sessions Friday at 3:15 and 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 11:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Eliminations will begin Saturday at approximately 5:15 p.m. with the second round picking up Sunday at 1:20 p.m.

The Marshalltown, IA driver is tied for third in the Series standings after six races with the help of a new crew chief and momentum from early season victories

FOUNTAIN CITY, WI – April 27, 2023 – Ryan Gustin has reached uncharted territory with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models.

As the Series prepares for the third annual Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wi, on May 4-6, the “Reaper” is tied for third in the standings—his highest point in three years on tour.

With a top five and four top 10s in the season’s first six races, his consistency has positioned him 26 points behind points leader Chris Madden.

However, while his rise near the top of the standings seems constant, it hasn’t come without personnel changes. After former crew chief, Brett Ladehoff, decided to come off the road full-time at the end of 2022, Gustin searched for the missing piece to fill that spot.

That’s when he found Taylon Center, the missing piece to compliment himself and tire specialist Noah Bushman.

The addition of Center, who previously worked with Ricky Thornton Jr. and Hudson O’Neal, has paid off despite some struggles in Florida.

“It’s been good,” Gustin said. “Obviously, in Florida, we had some ups and downs. We won East Bay, and then we kind of struggled at Volusia a little bit. But that’s Florida, man. You’re going to take your lumps there; it seems like. 

“I don’t think we’ve really struggled outside of Florida. So, I feel like it’s been really good.”

Despite those Speedweeks struggles, one of the reasons he’s near the top of the World of Outlaws standings is his improvement at Volusia Speedway Park during Series competition.

In 2022, Gustin didn’t finish better than 25th in six starts at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” But he turned it around this season with a top five and two top 10s in four races.

“I think the last two years we’ve been down there, we’ve made maybe 10 percent of the shows,” Gustin said. “It definitely was a big improvement from the last two years for sure.”

While Gustin has been consistent with the World of Outlaws, he’s also been a threat to win in other events.

He won a Feature at East Bay in February and scored a win at Paragon Speedway earlier this month—a place he’d never seen before that night.

It was a win that gave him momentum, something Gustin isn’t taking for granted.

“It was different for sure for a big Late Model around there compared to Midgets and Sprint Cars and what they usually run,” Gustin said. “It wasn’t World of Outlaws competition, but we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

That momentum propelled him into a weekend where he scored a third at Talladega and 10th at 411 Motor Speedway, vaulting him from sixth to third in the standings.

READ MORE: Chris Madden Stays on Top after 411, Talladega

But while his rise near the top of the standings has him in uncharted territory, his focus is still on one thing – winning.

“We’re sitting [26] points out of the lead,” Gustin said. “We’re right there with a lot of people too. All we have to do is outrun them. It’s like that every night. We’re here to win, and that’s what we plan on doing.”

Gustin and the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models head to Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, WI, on May 4-6 for the third annual Dairyland Showdown, including the second $50,000-to-win race of the season.